Choosing the Right Software for Your Police Department

In 1955, the New Orleans Police Department ushered in one of the earliest law enforcement technologies — a data processing machine — to help with warrant and arrest summaries. Since then, policing tools have undergone significant evolution, growing into force multipliers and evidence management solutions. 

However, despite their evolution, many agencies are yet to find the perfect fit for their operations. Some solutions are outdated and can’t keep up with modern law enforcement needs; others don’t integrate with existing LE solutions, causing data siloes; and others are too complex, affecting their usability in today’s fast-paced LE environments. 

If you’re facing either of these challenges, it may be time to re-evaluate your software choice. 

Here, we explore what to look for in LE technology and offer tips for evaluating vendors to help you make smart investment decisions for your agency or police department. 

Signs it’s time to upgrade your department’s software

With the White House seeking budget cuts for law enforcement in 2026, agencies are under increased pressure to do more with less. One of the best ways to achieve this is to replace inefficient software with tools that streamline officers’ jobs. 

Here are some signs it may be time for an upgrade:

Slow, manual workflows that waste time

If police officers constantly have to hand-fill reports, manually enter the same information into different systems, search for evidence across multiple systems, or wait for other teams to respond to their emails when requesting evidence or seeking collaboration, it’s time to consider an upgrade. 

Slow, manual workflows lead to time waste — time that officers could be spending in the field, responding to emergencies, or solving cases. Too much manual input can also increase the likelihood of errors, potentially compromising cases or disrupting policing operations. 

The right tools should minimize the need for manual input and automate repetitive tasks like evidence retrieval and report writing. 

Tools that don’t talk to each other

Law enforcement agencies use a wide range of tools, including computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, records management systems (RMS), license plate reader (LPR) technologies, body camera video storage solutions, and evidence and data management systems. 

While each of these solutions supports law enforcement operations, a lack of integration across them can result in data silos, causing significant friction. For example, officers may be forced to navigate multiple platforms to corroborate witness statements. This could lead to duplicated efforts, case-building delays, or even missed data.

Limited access to data in the field

In some jurisdictions, patrol officers have to return to their command centers to check crime records or file reports. If this is the case for your department, it may be time to invest in a tool that offers field access. 

Without real-time access to data, LE agents may miss opportunities to apprehend offenders or, worse, face safety issues. For instance, if patrol officers can’t access license plate records, they may approach vehicles belonging to dangerous offenders without proper backup. Similarly, without access to be on the lookout (BOLO) alerts, they could release wanted offenders, slowing down case closures. 

What to prioritize when choosing law enforcement software

It’s easy to focus solely on software features when choosing your new tool. However, it’s also important to assess a tool’s functionality and alignment with your department’s processes and needs. Here’s a look at some key priorities that help you do just that:

Ease of use for every role — not just IT

While a complex tool may be easy for IT staff to use, it could be challenging for analysts, admins, and officers, which limits its value to your department. 

Only consider tools with intuitive interfaces and easy-to-follow navigation menus during your search. This way, everyone from patrol officers on the street to technical analysts can use them with little to no training, which can ease adoption.

Real-time visibility and data sharing

Officers need access to up-to-date information to effectively complete tasks such as compiling evidence, serving warrants, apprehending suspects, and ensuring public safety. So, invest in a tool that provides real-time visibility into everything from incident reports to case files and arrest warrants. 

Further, make sure your tool streamlines data sharing. This is especially important now, with modern government agencies (federal, state, and local) increasingly collaborating to enhance their efforts. Seamless data syncing can improve inter-department and cross-agency coordination. 

Real-time visibility and data-sharing capabilities can also help your team manage high call volumes by reducing the need for repeated data entry and minimizing the risk of miscommunication in dispatch and response. 

Flexible integrations with tools you already use

If you rely on multiple tools, choose a law enforcement software solution that plays well with what you’re already using or plan to use. 

Tools with flexible integration capabilities can reduce friction by preventing data silos and preserve your current tech investment by eliminating the need for a complete system overhaul. With budgets expected to decrease in some departments and the ever-rising expectations that LE agencies face, robust integration is more than just nice to have — it’s a must. 

Security, compliance, and auditability

How your chosen technology handles evidence, witness statements, incident reports, and LPR data can impact case outcomes, public safety, and the general public’s trust — and, consequently, their willingness to help in future cases. This makes the following features vital:

• Data encryption: Makes it difficult for unauthorized parties to read sensitive information 
• Access controls: Ensures parties only have access to information pertinent to their operations or cases 
• Audit logs: Can support internal reviews, prove evidence integrity in legal proceedings, and minimize the risk of system misuse 
• Configurable data retention settings: Can promote seamless evidence retrieval whenever necessary 

How to evaluate vendors and make a confident decision

Now that you know what to prioritize in your search for LE solutions, how do you confidently choose the right software provider? Here are some tips:

Questions to ask during product demos

Take advantage of the demo phase to dig deeper into a potential tool’s capabilities and alignment with your needs. Some questions to ask your vendor include:

• Does your tool support multi-agency collaboration? If so, how?
• What does onboarding look like for patrol units, detectives, admin staff, and IT teams? 
• Which tools does your software integrate with?
• Do you offer a real-time dashboard?
• Is data syncing across platforms automatic, or does it require some manual steps? 

These questions can help you determine whether your potential software will support cross-agency collaboration, technical and non-technical staff operations, current police patrol strategies, and seamless workflows. 

Flock Nova ticks many of the boxes, making it a worthwhile option for your department. It unifies intelligence from multiple sources (security videos, LPR cameras, CAD, and RMS), offers a Google-like search to make it easy for technical and non-technical teams to find relevant data, and provides real-time insights into crime trends. 

Schedule a demo to get a glimpse of how Flock Safety technology offers law enforcement support. 

Getting buy-in across your department

Your choice of a vendor shouldn’t be a one-person or specific-department decision. Rather, it should reflect the input of command staff, analysts, dispatchers, and first responders. 

So, collect feedback from multiple stakeholders before settling on any solution. Doing so can help you choose a tool that people will adopt and actually use. 

Evaluating onboarding and training support

Even the best tool can be problematic without robust vendor support. Make sure this is something any potential vendor is capable of and willing to offer before choosing their software. 

Some questions to ask when assessing onboarding and training support include:

• How long will it take to get the new software running?
• Will you offer in-person, online, or hybrid training?
• Will we have a dedicated support team during the onboarding process? 
• Do you offer additional training when you update or change features?

Understanding total cost beyond the contract

With some vendors, there’s more to the cost of LE software than the subscription fee quoted in customer contracts. You may incur additional costs associated with data migration, training, hardware upgrades, integration, customization, and platform maintenance. 

To avoid getting caught off guard, ask your potential vendor about the true cost of using or owning their platform. With this information, you can make a well-informed decision about whether to choose their tool and budget appropriately early on. 

Flock Safety offers no-cost APIs to help law enforcement agencies get the most value from their software as possible. Not only this, but Flock also ties everything from installation and permitting to training and maintenance into your subscription fee so there are no surprises on your bill later on.

Additionally, we offer scalable pricing, allowing you to choose a subscription plan based on your specific needs and budget. 

Explore how scalable pricing works with FlockOS® today. 

Assessing software deployment and long-term support 

Don’t assume every vendor will automatically set up equipment for your department. The truth is, some providers simply supply LE solutions and leave customers to handle the rest. Make sure this isn’t the case from the outset to avoid incurring unexpected expenses or implementation delays. 

Flock Safety supports customers throughout, from installation to maintenance, allowing law enforcement to focus on its core function: promoting public safety. 

That’s not all. If you use any of Flock’s physical products, like LPR cameras and AI video cameras, our team will also handle everything from trenching and permitting to infrastructure deployment and integration. 

Connect your department with tools built to scale

Your choice of LE software will determine how well different departments and agencies collaborate, how quickly cases progress, and how easily officers can do their jobs. So, don’t take this decision lightly. Consider how your team would want your department to run and identify the gaps in current tools. Then, choose a solution that gets you where you want to be. 

Flock Safety is a leading software vendor for law enforcement agencies and police departments. We offer FlockOS®, a cloud-based platform that delivers real-time intelligence from Flock’s video, LPR, and audio solutions, keeping officers and agents in the loop at all times. 

We have also introduced Flock Nova, a mobile-first public safety software that integrates data from RMS, LPR, CAD, and video sources and quickly surfaces crime data to optimize operational efficiency. 

Book a demo with Flock Safety today to see how our software solutions can support your department’s efforts!