The Chelsea Police Department is embracing technological advancement to enhance its crime-fighting capabilities. Officers will soon arrive at roll calls equipped with smartphones and laptops as part of a comprehensive departmental reorganization announced by Chief Brian Kyes last week. The restructuring enables the department to deploy both full-time and part-time crime analysts who will track criminal patterns and identify crime hotspots throughout Chelsea and neighboring jurisdictions. By examining crime data across the region, these analysts will develop insights into which offenders are active in the area and where their criminal activity concentrates. Kyes views this analytical layer as a protective tool for officers patrolling Chelsea’s streets. “We have three shifts and three roll calls that are 15 minutes each,” he said. “I want the roll call to be more than giving out assignments. I want it to be transmitting information on current crime trends and certain bad guys we’re looking for. I want it be where officers can watch surveillance videos at roll call and download them to take with them when they’re on duty. They will be able to have updated information electronically to help them recognize people or see things firsthand. So when they’re out on the street they know exactly who and what we’re looking for.”
The technical infrastructure for this initiative has existed for years, according to Kyes, yet adequate personnel were never available to implement it fully. Sgt. John Cowhig has served as the department’s computer information technology (IT) officer while simultaneously handling crime analysis responsibilities. His IT workload consumed virtually all available time, leaving minimal capacity for meaningful statistical analysis. “I came to realize we need someone full-time doing crime analyst stuff,” said Kyes. To resolve this constraint, Kyes brought on a civilian employee dedicated exclusively to IT operations. This move freed Sgt. Cowhig to focus entirely on crime analysis. Concurrently, the City and School Department secured a grant funding a part-time analyst to examine patterns affecting school-age youth. These paired developments have substantially strengthened the Chelsea Police’s resources, generating considerable optimism within the department about leveraging their technological capabilities. “Basically, we go from having no crime analyst whatsoever to having one and a half individuals looking at crime data and analyzing it,” he said. “I’m very excited because Chelsea is a small city – 2.2 square miles – but the reality is we have our crime issues as it pertains to certain hot spots. I want to be able to put information out every day if I can. We will now have more of a pulse on when activity is occurring and what type of activity – whether violence, prostitution, drugs or even vandalism.”
The implementation strategy calls for officers to receive information during roll call briefings from sergeants as well as through their digital devices. Beyond internal operations, Chief Kyes intends to mobilize community participation in crime prevention using technology. The department plans to enhance its electronic Citizen Action Network by introducing a free smartphone application. Within 30 days, the Chelsea Police will launch this new app, enabling residents to report criminal activity directly through their phones and the Citizen Action Network. A Peabody police officer developed the application, known as MyPD, and Chelsea will represent only one of six departments currently utilizing the program. “This will be a lot more enhanced than anything we have,” he said. “The multitude of things this free app can do for the police department is unbelievable. If someone on the street sees a person breaking into a car they can take a picture of it or make a video of it and send it instantly to the police department. We’ll have people who will be in charge of receiving it and instantly disseminate it.”