The Challenge
As an agency accredited through the Texas Police Chiefs Association Best Practices Recognition Program, the Murphy Police Department (MPD) was used to meeting high standards. But MPD leadership are also passionate about setting internal expectations that exceed standards set by outside stakeholders. “As a command staff, we have a duty to our people to provide them with the highest, most robust expectations,” says Chief Jeff Gibson. “Because if we’re not getting it right in our house, we will have failures externally.”
It was that sentiment that drove MPD leaders to look for improvements in two main areas: streamline the agency’s field training process, and improve accountability associated with the agency’s policies.
“Our policies existed as one giant PDF file, and signoffs were done manually, on paper,” says Lt. Aaron McCarty. And although the policies had passed the accreditation audit, there was room for improvement. “Some of the verbiage was old, and we lagged in making updates when case law came out,” Lt. McCarty says. “The officers were using a good framework, but it wasn’t always up to date.”
In line with a citywide objective, the MPD had also set a goal to reduce paper usage, leading Lt. McCarty to seek a training management application that would streamline the tracking of officer field training.
The Solution
Both challenges led the MPD to Lexipol. The agency first implemented Lexipol’s Field Training application, but quickly expanded to add Performance Reporting, which digitizes the collection of data such as field investigations, vehicle pursuits and community complaints or compliments. “The FTO module impressed us so much that we brought in the other modules,” Lt. McCarty says. “Now, we do everything through the system – training tracking, weapons tracking, everything is done within one application.”
When it came to improving policy management, Chief Gibson knew Lexipol could help – he had implemented Lexipol’s Law Enforcement Policies solution in two previous agencies. “There’s not a product on the market that’s better at setting high expectations than Lexipol’s policy solution,” Chief Gibson says. “No one keeps your policies updated in a more efficient manner. Lexipol’s legal team is incredibly intelligent, incredibly proactive. They are always way ahead of the game.”
While Chief Gibson had repeatedly seen the value of Lexipol’s policy solution, the unified team approach MPD took to implementing the policies was crucial to success. Together with Lt. Adana Barber and Records Supervisor Kim Gann, Chief Gibson and Lt. McCarty formed a four-person team to review and customize the policies, working closely with a Lexipol Professional Services representative. Having all decision-makers at the table and setting aside time every day to review policies allowed MPD to move quickly through the implementation.
Also key was how the policies were introduced to the officers. “We gave officers 90 days to assimilate the content before the policies were active,” Lt. McCarty says. “We held multiple town halls with the officers and got all the questions resolved. It wasn’t something we gave them overnight. They could see that the administration wasn’t pulling the wool over their eyes.”
As a result, officer acceptance came easy, bolstered by the convenience the platform provides. The Lexipol policy app is now installed on all city phones, so officers can search policies while in the car or on a call for service. Lt. McCarty also moved quickly to issue Lexipol’s Daily Training Bulletins (DTBs), which reinforce the policies. “They love that they can do the DTBs and the policy acknowledgments on the app,” Lt. McCarty says. “It has accelerated the adoption of this program. Officers like things that are easy and quick to access, and Lexipol checks that box.”
The Results
As Chief Gibson and Lt. McCarty reflect on the results they’ve achieved by implementing Lexipol solutions, three themes emerge: efficiency, transparency and accountability.
Digitizing and automating the collection of data has naturally led to efficiencies. “Before, everything was another form in itself. With the Lexipol application, when a sergeant creates a report, it goes immediately where it needs to be – there’s no lag time,” Lt. McCarty says. “And training information, compliments, complaints, all go to the officer’s portfolio with the application. That’s streamlined the record-keeping process, which has really helped us move to using less paper.”
The Lexipol solutions also work together to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. “For example, in a use of force situation, the sergeant can use Performance Reporting to write the report, while also having the Lexipol policy pulled up to reference,” Lt. McCarty says. Forms are customized for the agency, taking out any guesswork as to which fields need to be completed.
Transparency has been another critical outcome of implementing Lexipol solutions – both internal and external. Through the Performance Reporting application, the MPD implemented an online option for community members to submit compliments and complaints, which in turn increased the feedback coming from the community and provided objective data about how often community members are pleased with the service MPD provides.
“People aren’t going to come into the station to compliment an officer,” Chief Gibson says. “But this system makes it so easy – they can fill it out on their phone. We get a plethora of positive comments, and it’s very comforting that we’re doing the right things.” Compliments are shared with the officers at quarterly meetings so the entire department can hear them, increasing morale and reinforcing good service.
With Lexipol keeping the MPD policies continuously updated, officers also have more transparency into why a policy says what it does. “Because the updates are coming out frequently and reference current court cases, our officers give the policies more credibility than they did in the past,” Lt. McCarty says. “They see that it’s being updated by Lexipol, and they know if they’re playing within policy, things will go right.”
Providing that transparency is key to achieving the level of excellence MPD command staff expect. “Officers don’t want to feel like they’re being kept in the dark,” Lt. McCarty says. “With Lexipol, they have full transparency, which gives them the confidence to go out there and do their jobs in the right way. We’re really looking forward to the future with these two programs. The more agencies that get on board with Lexipol, the better we will make our industry as whole.”
For Chief Gibson, it all comes down to meeting the high standards he has for the agency and its personnel. “What we’ve accomplished is accountability,” he says. “Leadership and accountability go hand in hand, at every level of the organization. We can’t hold someone accountable if we don’t give them the expectations. With Lexipol, we have that foundation; we have set robust expectations. We can go into the system every day and in a matter of seconds look at our accountability factor. And that’s what allows us to lay our head on the pillow at night – knowing our people have the tools to make reasonable, sound decisions in the field.”
