CASSOPOLIS — A new way for sheriff’s deputies to make incident reports may be coming to Cass County.

During Thursday’s Cass County Board of Commissioners meeting, Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke presented a proposal to the board of a speech-powered reporting project that the sheriff believes will streamline the reporting process, saving the sheriff’s office time and money.

The current system of reporting, which has been in place since 1989, involves deputies recording reports into a recording device and having a transcriptionist type them. According to Behnke, this system has created a backlog in transcriptions, which creates a longer turnaround on reports, which in turn affects supervisors, investigators and the public.

According to Information Systems Director Kerry Collins, the sheriff’s office has 60 hours of not-yet-typed dictation backlog. 

This backlog can allow details to be lost, leads to go cold and citizen service to suffer, Behnke said.

“We’ve fallen behind,” Behnke told commissioners Thursday. “To give you an idea, we used to have three people in the clerical department to answer the window, type reports and maintain the functioning of the front office. We now have one and a half — one full-time person and one part-time person.”

The proposed speech powered reporting project would invest in speech recognition software, which would allow deputies to dictate a report into a Microsoft Word file or run an audio file through an automated transcription service. A records clerk would then proof the transcription.

According to Nuance Dragon Law Enforcement, the provider the sheriff proposed, the speech recognition software allows law enforcement entities to create incident reports three times faster than traditional methods.

The cost of the project in Cass County is estimated to be $37,177 upfront, plus $3,045 per year for maintenance and support. An installment purchase would be $10,964 on a five-year lease.

“This is a solution, other than hiring someone new or hiring a full-time person or another part-time person, to the problem,” Behnke said. “For every minute of reports that an officer does, it takes a typist three to four minutes to transcribe that. That’s a big number to save. It would allow us to process reports much quicker. … This wouldn’t reduce the number of people we have at this point, but it could reduce the need for a new person later, which would save [the department money].”

Currently, the proposed system is used by Pokagon Tribal Police. Behnke said he has spoken with tribal police officers, who have seen an improvement in reporting turnarounds.

Commissioner Roseann Marchetti, vice chairperson of the board, said Thursday that there was no current date set to vote on the proposal.

Also Thursday:

• The Area Agency on Aging, which provides programs and services to senior populations in the tri-county area, presented its annual report to the board of commissioners. According to the report, the agency received 12,436 requests in the 2018 fiscal year from its information and assistance info line, enrolled 1,357 into care management, aided 178 with housing coordination and offered caregiver support to 862 individuals.

Chief Operating Officer Christine Vanlandingham presented the report.

• The board approved the purchase of vehicle equipment for two patrol vehicles in the amount of $15,996 from Tele-Rad to be paid out of the county’s motor pool fund.

• The board voted to move its July 5 meeting to July 2.