Given Sheriff Woody’s commitment to leveraging technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the RCSO, the Information Technology Office is actively seeking new ways to enhance technological functions, while finding alternative funding sources to make this possible.

 The January 2007 award of a $200K Department of Criminal Justice Services grant will allow the Richmond City Jail’s records to be coordinated with the Richmond Police Department and other surrounding public safety partners.  

  “After 9/11 we saw how vital it is to have interoperability for communications and technology systems.  Now, a key component in Richmond’s public safety equation is in place and we can be more prepared if and when the need arises.”  Sheriff Woody continued, “We commit over 20,000 people into the Richmond City Jail, and we collect data from thousands more with whom we come into contact each year.  Now, this vast amount of information will be available to partnering public safety agencies, as theirs will be to us.”

 Which agencies will be integrated?

Once implemented, the new software system will allow seamless data sharing and records access among:

·        Richmond City Sheriff’s Office

·        Richmond Police Department

·        Commonwealth Attorney’s Office

·        State Probation and Parole Office – VA Department of Corrections  

What will the system do?

·        Bar-coding inmate information

·        Tracking inmate mass movement

·        Identifying trends and patterns among the inmate population

·        Allowing immediate access to medical history information and data

·        Instant notification of an inmate’s location  

The $200K grant for the Criminal Justice System Records Improvement Program will enhance the City Jail’s ability to collect and maintain data on both inmates and those coming into contact with the Sheriff’s Office.   This new system will not only improve record keeping, it will also improve the safety of jail staff, inmates and the public.