Box 6, Folder 6, Document 2

Box 6, Folder 6, Document 2

REQUEST FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE FUNDS

The necessity for central computerized police records for the
Metropolitan Area of Atlanta was clearly demonstrated by the
1965 activities of Atlanta Metropol. This group of area
policemen met together, trained together and worked together
in efforts to find and solve their mutual problems to the sat-
isfaction of all concerned. The problem of police records,
standardization of report forms and computers came to the
forefront in Metropol when it was discovered, through day-
to-day work with the various departments, that no universal
method was used in keeping records in the 49 different depart-
ments. Considering the fact that the city limits of Atlanta
borders on six other independent police jurisdictions, it is
obvious that many problems cross city limits and that infor-
mation from one department would be valuable to others. The
multiplicity of files delays this exchange of information.

A look at the entire Metropolitan Atlanta Area shows a simi-
lar situation exists, but on an expanded scale. This five-
county area is some 1,724 square miles in extent. Its popu-
lation is about 1,200,000 or approximately one-fourth that

of the State of Georgia. Of the 33 cities of Georgia with

a population of 10,000 or more, nine are found in this Metro-
politan Atlanta Area. It includes five county governments
and 44 municipal governments.

This proposed project has been planned in three phases.
Phase one will involve the five-county area of Metropoli-
tan Atlanta and will serve as a model for the remainder of
the state; phase two will include the entire state with
regional meetings planned and field assistance being given
to any department that is interested in using the services
or setting up a similar system; phase three will also be
statewide and will be an added attempt to extend the use
of this system to departments that were unable to come in
under phase two. Field assistance and regional meetings
are also planned for this third phase.

PHASE ONE: Each of the 49 departments in the Metropolitan
Area has its own system of keeping records as well as its
own set of report forms. To begin with, an inventory of

the record systems and report forms of each department would
be made to determine the need. This first step in phase

one would be done largely by sub-contract to competent
consultants working under the Metropolitan Atlanta Council
of Local Governments with technical assistance from the
Metropol Steering Committee.
Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)

After this inventory is complete, an advisory committee (con-
sisting primarily of members of the Metropol Steering Committee,
the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Local Governments, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation), working with the Project staff,
will prepare a standard set of report forms, record systems,

and files that would be suitable for use by all police juris-
dictions in the area. This material would be graduated so that
a small police department could use only a portion if it desired,
but the portion used would be compatible with the whole system.
This material would be prepared in such form as to be readily
adaptable to the use of data processing equipment.

The feasibility of using central electronic data processing
equipment would be studied. This study would cover the use

of existing equipment, equipment on order, commercial units,
or new installations. It is conceivable that a start might be
made under one system, then progress to other units as they
become available or the use of the system is expanded. The
study would include a proposal for sharing the cost of the
data processing between the governments included.

When the inventory is complete, standard report forms are
developed and the cost of the system is determined, those per-
sons responsible for its operation would then be trained. A
short course in this type instruction is planned as part of
the project and will include the police chiefs, persons who
will fill in the report forms, keypunch operators and others
who might be affected.

As this system is developed, members of the advisory committee
will be making frequent evaluations of each thing that is done.
Use will be made of two existing committees for these progress
checks on the project. One, the Steering Committee of Metro-
pol, the other, the Data Processing Study Committee of the
Council of Local Governments. The former, composed of exper-
ienced law enforcement officers, would provide the needed
technical police experience and knowledge for standardization
of files, records and reports. The latter committee is made
up of men with data processing background, budget and manage-
ment skills. This group would be admirable for reviewing the
program development, the cost sharing plans, and the implemen-
tation of the computer part of the project. Both groups are
already organized and active as seen by the annual report of
MACLOG — ( Appendix A of this application).

a Bo


Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)

When phase one has been completed, members of the staff of the
Institute of Government at the University of Georgia will make
an over-all evaluation of the value of the project and suggest
methods of improvement. By making this evaluation, they will
be in a better position to carry out phases two and three of
the project.

In the initial phase of the project, as in the remaining two,

the police departments will be the target groups or the groups
most affected, although the entire state will benefit because

of increased efficiency in police work.

This project is designed to demonstrate the added capabilities
a police department gains by having computer-fast access to
central area-wide files. As phase one is designed to serve as
a model for the remainder of the state, computer capabilities
will be demonstrated before the two final phases of this pro-
ject are initiated,

The estimated completion time of the three phases is one year
each. Phase one will serve as a model for the state, but will
include only the five-county Metropolitan Atlanta Area. This
phase will be conducted by competent personnel from the Atlanta
area, while phases two and three will be administered by the
Institute of Government of the University of Georgia, Athens,
Georgia. A breakdown of the estimated time schedule for phase
one is as follows:

A. An inventory of the records and report forms
used by all police departments in the area -
before conducting the inventory, all the police
chiefs will be called in to a meeting in which
an explanation of the purpose of the inventory
will be given - estimated completion time for
this step is two months.

B. Designing the system, standardizing of report
forms, system analysis, and determining the
cost of the entire system, as well as the cost
to each jurisdiction using the system - esti-
mated completion time is six months.

C. Orientation given to police chiefs, persons
responsible for filling out report forms, key-
punch operators, etc. - a short course in
this type instruction is planned - estimated
completion time is one month,
Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)



D. Coding of system. Contingent on approval of
operating contract between cities and counties.
Estimated completion time is six months.

E. Evaluation by competent personnel during devel-
opment of system as well as after the system
has been in operation - estimated time for
final evaluations is one-two months.

F. Publication of complete report on project for
distribution to interested police departments -
estimated time two months.

Total estimated time required to carry out phase one of this pro-
posed project, 12 months.

Phase two of the project will be expanded to include departments
throughout the state. With the regional meetings planned and
the vast amount of field assistance that will be required, it

is expected that another 12 months will be necessary to complete
phase two. Phase three is similar to phase two in that it will
consist of regional meetings and a great amount of field assis-
tance. This phase is designed to pick up those smaller depart-
ments in the state that were unable to come in when phase two
was in operation and should also be completed in 12 months.

FINANCIAL RESOURCES



Itemized Estimate of Project Cost.

PHASE ONE:

A. Inventory of records and reports $ 5,000
B. Systems Analysis and Design 22,500
C. Orientation and Short Courses 4,000.
D. Coding of System 15,000
100 hours of IBM 7040 computer time 10,000

E. Evaluation 2,000
F. Publication of Reports 3,000
Traveling Expense 3,000
Telephone - Postage - etc. 500

$ 65,000

Note: No capital outlay included in the above
estimate.
Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)

Local Contribution:
3 months of Coordinator's time.
3 months of Asst. Coordinator.
Administrative overhead for above two employees.
All office space, conference rooms for project.

ARMPC staff time - artists, research personnel,
and stenographers.

Police staff personnel for technical assistance.

Any capital outlay required. It is contemplated
that contracts will be negotiated between local
governments to install and operate the system if
it is found to be feasible and within the capa-
bilities of the local governments. No part of
the requested funds would be spent on capital
outlay.

PHASE TWO: No funds requested at this time for these parts
of the over-all project.

PHASE THREE: No funds requested at this time for these parts
of the over-all project.

In phase one of this proposed project, the work would be done
under the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Local Governments
with assistance being given by the Steering Committee of
Atlanta Metropol. The Council of Local Governments has avail-
able two full-time employees to coordinate the activity, with
complete staff support furnished, under contract, by Atlanta
Region Metropolitan Planning Commission. All of the facili-
ties of ARMPC, such as office space, conference room, print-
ing equipment, etc., would be available when needed. Since
ARMPC has initiated many activities and projects involving
Federal aid, their assistance in the administration of phase
one will be extremely valuable.
Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)

The Council of Governments’ biggest accomplishment to date has
been the organization of the area policemen into a group known
as Atlanta Metropol. This group was organized in June, 1965,
and set three prime objectives as a beginning - better commun-
ications, better training and better cooperation. To date,
they have been extremely successful in all their endeavors.
Their accomplishments through December 31, 1965 are listed in
the 1965 Annual Report of the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of
Local Governments - ( Appendix A). Since then, Metropol has
started its fourth training institute with 52 men having less
_than two years' experience being trained. They also have
definite plans for a week-long administrative school for top
level officers beginning March 28. This school will include
men from throughout the state and an attendance of 150 is
expected. In this school, as in all the others, Metropol

will be given a great amount of assistance from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.

The latest accomplishment of Metropol (since the completion of
the 1965 Annual Report) was an IBM demonstration it sponsored
January 19 in which the capabilities of computers in police
work were demonstrated.

As stated in a previous paragraph, Atlanta Region Metropoli-
tan Planning Commission and Atlanta Metropol can be expected
to be very cooperative in carrying out phase one of the pro-
ject. Others who can be expected to cooperate are the staff
members of the Institute of Government at the University of
Georgia and the computer division of Georgia State College.
During phases two and three of the project, the above men-
tioned agencies, as well as the Council of Local Governments,
will assist the Institute of Government at the University of
Georgia in every way possible.

For assistance thus far on this project, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation has been contacted and can be expected to
participate in all three phases of the project.

As previously stated, phase one of this project will be done
under the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Local Governments

with assistance from Atlanta Metropol. From these two groups
and from several outside sources, an advisory committee will
be formed that will develop the guidelines to be followed in
each step of phase one. By developing these guidelines and

seeing the end results, this group can make their evaluations

= =
Request for Law Enforcement
Assistance Funds (Cont'd.)

as the project progresses rather than an over-all evaluation
when it is complete. For an over-all evaluation of phase one,
members of the staff of the Institute of Government at the
University of Georgia will take over. Since they are respon-
sible for carrying out phases two and three of this project,
it is.only reasonable that they would be the logical group to
determine the effectiveness of phase one. From this, they
can determine whether it would be profitable to continue with
the two final phases. .

As clearly stated in the explanation of the Law Enforcement
Assistance Act, its primary purpose is to identify workable
solutions to the nation's crime control problems. We feel
that we have such a solution in our proposed project. It
will only have local impact in phase one, but this impact
will be increased and include the entire state in phases two
and three. Other states could certainly profit by the basic
work done on police records and files. The feasibility study
on data processing should be a valuable guide to states con-
sidering the use of such equipment. A full report of phase
one will be printed in sufficient quantities to provide copies
for interested governments.

This type system has been tried and is operating successfully
in certain areas of the country, but it would definitely be
an innovation for the Metropolitan Atlanta Area and for the
State of Georgia. Our proposed project is designed as an
action program as we plan to computerize the police records
of the majority of the police departments in the state within
three years. In essence, this project proposes to move law
enforcement work from its present antiquated level to a
sophisticated, modern, electronic age level, without going
through the time-consuming evolutionary process that other-
wise will be required. The ultimate goal is the reduction
of crime.