Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/144260
FOCUS CODY Systems & WDFW Making information available on fsh and wildlife license holders from the Washington Interactive Licensing Database (WILD) required both. This WILD integration was one example of the data integration achieved by this project. Integrating information on all current license holders into the CODY master name database has proven to be one of the most valuable features of the system from an offcer perspective. It immediately gives offcers critical information for better decision-making, including any license suspension or revocation, based on a simple name search. Having that information directly available in the feld has made them more effective in handling the more than 250,000 citizen contacts they make each year. WILD is maintained by the state's point-of-sale license-purchase system vendor, which provides a periodic extract to the WDFW IT Department. Integrating this data into the new system required the expertise that CODY brought from its large-scale public-safety data integration projects like Missouri's statewide MoDEx data exchange. Since there are more than 60 different WDFW license types, and an individual can purchase multiple licenses at different times, the CODY master name record had to be confgured to handle frequent updates to a large number of felds imported from an external system. "And we don't always have the best data to work with," according to Garret Ward. "We did a lot of work mapping data and developing protocols for handling abnormalities. The working relationship between CODY and (WDFW) IT was invaluable in making this happen." Before the new system went live, CODY successfully completed the migration of demographic and license information on more than 1.5 million individuals to the CODY system master name fle, handling potential duplicate person records on the fy to eliminate cluttering of the database. That information is periodically and automatically updated based on new license-related transactions in the WILD extract. In addition to integrating specific WILD data directly into the CODY master name fle, the system also includes a WILD View interface for direct access to the WILD database from CODY Express. 24 LAW and ORDER I July 2013 Through WILD View an offcer can verify a hunter or fsherman's claim that he has the required license or tag, even if it's not in his possession. This simple check helps WDFW improve customer satisfaction and provide better customer service to a legitimate license holder who now doesn't get a written warning or citation. This integration with WILD was just one of the many interfaces/integrations confgured for WDFW across multiple systems, including an interface to the State Administrative Offce of Courts (AOC). Saving Dollars and Getting Better Information by Centralizing Data By centralizing data, WDFW has also been able to shut down other stand-alone systems and databases, saving money and freeing IT resources, as well as making it easier for offcers in the feld to get the information they need. For example, along with its other feld-RMS functions, CODY Express replaces a third-party mobile data system for querying federal and state databases for stolen vehicle reports, outstanding warrants, and other criminal justice information. Now, the offcer doesn't have to sign in to a separate system to run a name. With a single click from the person screen, the offcer can quickly initiate a query. WDFW was also able to replace its legacy activity logging system with functionality already embedded in CODY Express. Solid metrics on the number of offcers and hours involved in responding to dangerous wildlife incidents, license fraud investigation, and other hot button issues, for example, helps clearly demonstrate the importance of WDFW enforcement presence to the public and the agency's stakeholders. Even as the agency as a whole has had to absorb staffng cuts in recent years, the Enforcement Program has been able to maintain its officer staffing level. Having the right information on offcer workload has been an effective tool. "I can pull the data from CODY," Chief Bjork said, "and walk it right up the Hill (to the State Legislature). It builds credibility. The worst thing you can say to legislators is 'I don't know, or I don't have that data available.'" The Value of Partnership at Every Level A key to the success of this project was the partner relationship that both WDFW and CODY fostered at all levels. The foundation of that relationship is listening, compromising, working together, and facing challenges with an open mind and total focus on fnding the right solution. With any project of this scope, there are certain to be problems that can't be anticipated. Finding solutions to those problems starts at the project management level, but sometimes it requires resources outside the scope of the project. That's when the partners need to be able to work together at the executive level to fnd the right solution. As Project Manager, Garret Ward has provided strong and consistent leadership to the WDFW team since the beginning of the project. CODY Systems mirrored that dedication to the project. "Even though our company is based three time zones away," said CODY's Barbara Falcaro, "WDFW knows that we're all there to support them every day 24x7, even when an issue isn't the result of our software." Chief Bjork also stressed the importance of the partnership. "WDFW's partnership with CODY Systems has been a good one," according to the Chief. "As a Conservation Law Enforcement entity, it has taken a lot of work, software customization, and enhancements to get to where we are now with our system, and there are future enhancements that we will still be considering to get to where we want to be." Chief Bjork added: "I frequently talk to other law enforcement executives about their record management systems and hear some of the horror stories that they've experienced with their vendors. That has not been WDFW's experience with CODY Systems. We've worked collaboratively on issues, negotiated fairly on upgrades and enhancements, and built an excellent governmental/private partnership." Myles Tillotson is a writer specializing in public safety and biometric identifcation solutions. He can be reached at mylestillotson@verizon.net. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com