Chief Doug Shoemaker didn’t originally aspire to be a police officer – but after two years working as a non-sworn officer with a university police department, he found his passion. “I thought, ‘This sounds like a great career because you can help people and you can work with the community. You’re not tied behind a desk and you can have the freedom to go out and hopefully do some really good things.’”
Shoemaker’s 33-year career in law enforcement has been filled with doing “really good things,” including leading two departments as chief of police, serving as an elected vice president for the International Association of Chiefs of Police for three years and being a founding member of The Curve, a program that aims to transform police leadership training by cultivating healthier, more supportive cultures within law enforcement.
Shoemaker has seen firsthand how technology can empower officers, build community trust and drive meaningful change. Now it’s his passion to help police departments use data to gain insight and better serve their community, which he does as a public safety executive at Peregrine.
The evolution of data in law enforcement
The shift in technology across policing has been substantial since Shoemaker first entered law enforcement. In the early ’90s, departments relied on manual reporting and siloed systems. Over time, innovations like computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management systems, body-worn cameras and license plate readers have flooded departments with data.
“Fast-forward through the years to today, there’s so much data out there,” said Shoemaker. “The problem is we don’t know how to use it effectively because the systems don’t talk to one another. It’s an interesting paradox that we have most all the data, but we don’t really know what to do with it.”
This disconnection hinders a department’s ability to gain a comprehensive view of what’s happening in their jurisdiction. Worse, it limits their ability to proactively address crime or communicate effectively with the public.
The need for actionable insights
People want to know what crime trends are happening in the community and what law enforcement is doing about it. Disparate systems that don’t talk to each other make that more difficult and time-consuming.
Community members often assume that information is just a few keystrokes away. But due to disconnected systems, gathering and verifying data can take days. The result is frustration – for both citizens and police.
“You can have a great CAD system, but it may not at all interface with your body-worn camera or your digital evidence systems,“ said Shoemaker. “Our job on the policing end is to somehow figure out how to collectively bring those bits of data together to paint an accurate picture for the community.”
The solution lies in connected, vendor-agnostic platforms that bridge the gap between data sources. Systems like Peregrine allow departments to create a unified view across all their tools – from dispatch to digital evidence.
“I think all police leaders across the country want access to that kind of data where they can – with authority in knowing they’re correct and accurate – give the data to the community because they want to be transparent,” said Shoemaker. “They want to be able to convey ‘Here’s the real picture of what’s taking place and here’s what we’re doing about it.’ At Peregrine, we want to give our law enforcement partners exactly that – the ability to be responsive and relational with the communities they serve.”
There are two keys to making sure your police department is not going through the motions of collecting data for the sake of collecting data – which is something no department has the time or money to do. Understanding what data the community expects to see and analyzing the data in a way that makes it actionable for police are crucial.
Understanding community expectations of police
The first and foremost thing is understanding what your community expects of you.
“Communities we are policing expect us to police in the way they want to be policed,” said Shoemaker. “If we’re not listening to our communities, then we’re not going to serve them the way that they want to be served.”
Departments should take time to listen to and understand what their communities expect from them – and those expectations can vary widely. A tourist town, for instance, might care more about quality-of-life issues like noise and traffic safety, whereas a major metropolitan city might be more focused on reducing gang violence and homicides. Every agency, every community, is different.
Getting to know what the community wants requires building genuine partnerships with civic groups, schools, business leaders and faith communities. “It also means asking tough questions like ‘What are we doing really well, and what can we improve upon?’” said Shoemaker. “Sometimes the answers are tough to hear because they may see blind spots that we just simply don’t see within our own agency. But if you sit down across from someone that might have different life experiences or perspectives than you, you would probably be amazed what you can truly learn.”
Understanding law enforcement data
The second critical component of putting data to work for your department is to understand what you have and how the datasets work together – or not.
“Data must have some sort of practical impact not only externally to the community, but also with community leaders, elected officials and within the police department itself,” said Shoemaker.
It’s important to understand where your department is in the process of not only collecting but also analyzing data and – most importantly – how the data empowers officer decision-making. Having confidence in the accuracy and relevance of the data is essential.
“You’ve got to take the time to integrate data and transform it into something reliable,” said Shoemaker. “That’s when you can do things with it.”
Access to reliable data doesn’t just make departments more efficient – it makes officers more effective. Shoemaker believes empowering rank-and-file officers with insights builds confidence, encourages problem-solving and even increases job satisfaction. “When we invest in systems that help us become more efficient and ultimately allow us to be more transparent and responsive to the community, that’s a win-win,” he said.
Advice for chiefs: Start with what you have
For departments beginning their journey toward integrated, data-informed policing, Shoemaker offered this advice:
- Inventory your data. Understand what systems you have and what data they generate.
- Talk to your technology users. Analysts, investigators and patrol officers will tell you where the roadblocks are.
- Clarify your community’s expectations. Engage with stakeholders to find out what their priorities are and what information they need and value.
- Think beyond transactions. Relationships matter – internally, with vendors and, most important, with the community.
The future of data integration in policing
Shoemaker sees a future where connected systems are the norm, not the exception. While many agencies are still at the beginning stages of integrating their data, interest is growing fast.
“To deal with quality-of-life issues, to reduce crime and allow everyone in the community – regardless of where you live and who you are – to have a safe existence is part of our mission,” said Shoemaker. “We’re only as effective as the community allows us to be. If you get the community on board with your mission, your vision, the values of the agency and you’re aligned, you have a force multiplier.”
For more information, visit Peregrine.
