By Dennis Volkert
Sturgis City Commission on Feb. 28 approved a change in records management system for the department of public safety.
The commission approved expenditure of just over $30,000 for services from Core Technology for 18 months of service of Talon Incident Management System.
At a work session Feb. 14, staff members presented information to the commission on the need for the police division to purchase a different RMS. Over the past decade, the department has made continual effort to remain with ALERT software, which was funded through a 911 millage and provided at no cost to the city.
Public Safety Director Ryan Banaszak told commissioners that frequent challenges encountered with ALERT could jeopardize progress of criminal cases, causing ineffective tracking and monitoring of incidents handled by the department.
Analysis during an accreditation process in 2023-24 noted it as an area of concern and a report suggested it should be addressed “immediately,” Banaszak said.
Staff explored a variety of RMS software packages in use throughout departments in Michigan. A majority of the systems are standalone software that require onsite servers and cost ranges from $50,000 to well over $100,000 for initial setup, with recurring expense averaging close to half of the setup cost, Banaszak said.
Consulting with other law enforcement agencies in St. Joseph County who previously left ALERT, officials learned that a majority use the TIMS software.