Picture yourself waking up and getting ready for work. You have a busy day ahead. You go outside to drive to work, but something is wrong. Your car is gone. Stolen! Immediately, you call 911 and talk to a 911 Call Taker. Your information goes to a Radio Dispatcher who sends an officer to your home to make a stolen vehicle report. The officer calls the vehicles records unit of the Operations Support Services Division (OSSD). A Police Data Specialist (PDS) takes the information and enters it. This information is sent to all units to be on the lookout for the stolen vehicle.
The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) deals with a mountain of information every day. Reports and calls come in from officers, citizens and other law enforcement and government agencies. All this information must be accurately entered into the database system by the PDS, who works shifts 24-hours a day, seven days a week. But, the job of a PDS is more than typing. It involves communicating with officers in the field, processing written reports, doing research and talking with other government agencies such as the District Attorney’s office. Additionally, the PDS also works with the public. When citizens come to the SJPD to reclaim a stolen or impounded vehicle, the person behind the counter is a PDS. When a person must be fingerprinted or needs information on a warrant, the person they talk to is a PDS.
Supervising Police Data Specialist Veronica Martinez clarifies that a PDS does not just take in data like a machine, “A PDS performs a level of quality control on the reports. They consider many questions. Do the reporting dates match the Julian dates? Is the address in the report a valid address?”
Walking through the OSSD, you notice that the data specialists are not just sitting in front of computers. With five units in the OSSD Records section: Vehicle Records, Report Processing, Services & Communications, Warrants and Fingerprints, the PDS performs numerous tasks.
Report Processing processes reports generated by officers in the field, Community Service Officers, citizens and from other law agencies.
Vehicle Records encompasses three positions. First is “The Counter,” where the PDS helps people with releasing a vehicle or paying a fee. Second is the “Stolen Vehicle Desk,” where the PDS enters data into the stolen vehicles system. This system provides stolen vehicle information to any law enforcement agency in the nation. Third is “Impounds,” where the PDS enters impound information into a system that notifies an owner that his or her car has been towed, not stolen.
Services and Communications takes most of the calls that come through the SJPD. This unit encompasses a wide range of tasks including handling reports from officers in the field, doing research, processing requests from the public and various agencies, tending to subpoenas and PRAs (public records act requests). Unless 911 is dialed, when the public calls the SJPD, the person they talk to is a PDS in Services and Communications.
Fingerprints registers sex offenders, narcotic offenders, arson, gang-related criminals and cite bookings. For example, if a person cited for petty theft, they must come to Fingerprints to be photographed, fingerprinted and work out bookings before going to court.
Warrants sends notifications to citizens, track and maintain warrants until they are served, process criminal citations to update information in the county database, issue Emergency Protection Orders (e.g. a temporary restraining order), taking care of calls from the court (e.g. when a warrant is recalled) and do diligence for every single warrant.
“There’s really so much that we do,” comments Veteran PDS Francisca Chavez. “You have to be able to multitask. I might be on the phone, and while I’m on the phone I might process something else. So, you really have to think quick and make good decisions. You also have to be self-motivated and if there’s something you don’t know, you can always ask somebody on the team."
Team work is a must in the OSSD. Even when working the midnight shift, one PDS desk might be quiet, but he or she might need to help a PDS in another unit.
Attention to detail, desire to help the public, self motivation and quick thinking ... who are the people who become a data specialist?
“We’re looking for people who are willing to learn a lot of things and not stay focused only on one area,” states OSSD Division Manager Veronica Andrade. “When I was tested for this position, I listened to audio tapes and typed transcriptions. It was very slow, very easy. It was just testing your typing and memory skills. Now, we use tests from the Communications unit. You're tested for your multitasking and decision making skills. You're doing one thing and then, in a moment’s notice, you’re doing something else. We find people who can multitask and make decisions. Those skills have to be innate, it can’t be taught.”
Want to know more about SJPD Data Specialists? Visit SJPDYOU.com.
Credits:
Photos by Curt Fukuda