Paperwork burden in policing
Heavy documentation demands create ripple effects for law enforcement. Increased reporting limits community visibility, can impact the accuracy and completeness of reports, creates burnout, or worse, can cause safety issues with officers heads-down in the patrol vehicle entering data into CAD/RMS systems.
2019 Role of Technology in Law Enforcement Paperwork Survey
Documentation challenges law enforcement say they face
Heavy documentation impacts report quality, community service,
officer burnout, and safety
56%
Say they spend three hours or more on reporting and other paperwork per shift
86%
Are concerned that in‑car documentation can impact their safety
81%
Say they are concerned that heavy reporting demands create officer burnout
94%
Say inaccurate or inefficient reporting impacts report quality
91%
Say heavy reporting demands cause them to spend too much time on admin work, and less time out in the field
71%
Say they spend one hour or more in the patrol vehicle completing incident reports
Officers want smarter, more automated solutions to help with incident reporting
65%
Say technology can help improve data entry within their records management systems
98%
Say they need to adopt new technologies to improve the quality of reporting, officer safety, community visibility
45%
Say that technology can help improve officer morale and retention within their department
55%
Say technology can help improve relationships with prosecutors and DA offices