Samuel Ceballos, Pinecrest’s Chief of Police, has recently been in the news for his initiative to create an innovative policing app called “Virtual Roll Call”. The Chief knew that dozens of man-hours were wasted each day on the traditional roll call exercise that marks the beginning of a police shift. Why not come up with an app that could communicate the same information to his officers without having them troop into a room and waste time three times a day? He partnered with computer science students at FIU, tweaked and beta-tested the app over 2 years, and now Pinecrest police start their shifts on patrol and updated through the Virtual Roll Call app on their phones, iPads and cruiser computers. FIU is working on making the app available to police agencies nationwide.
Pinecrest is making several moves to bring technology to our town to support our police. We recently joined Coral Gables and Doral in approving the installation on license plate readers throughout our town. They are expensive, but after long consideration of the pros and con of the systems and a lengthy workshop with police agencies and government employees already using the systems, we determined that the LPRs would help us prevent crime, apprehend perpetrators and solve crimes more quickly without creating an additional burden on our officers.
These two technology initiatives speak volumes about the philosophy and practices of government in Pinecrest that guide our Council and management team. On the one hand, we work to create an atmosphere open to innovation, creativity and experimentation. We recognize that not every initiative will work out and we understand that new ideas can take years to flesh out. Good leaders give good employees the space and opportunity to try to do things better. Whether you work in the public or private sector, that philosophy takes time, patience and commitment to take hold in an organization. When innovation succeeds, like Chief Ceballos’ did, it’s important for real leaders to give credit where credit is due.
On the other hand, we are careful about our pocket book when jumping on the new technology bandwagon. A brand I often consider when evaluating the latest and greatest new gadget is “Betamax.” Long considered the better technology, it failed on the open market, rapidly lost out to VHS, ancillary services and products stopped being produced to support it and half the suburban households in my hometown ended up plopping one in the garbage just a few short years after shelling out a relative fortune for their machine.
Good government simply cannot afford the luxury of investing in technology that won’t stand the test of time. That’s why our Council spent about six hours talking with staff and police leadership from Doral and Coral Gables about license plate readers before we worked them into our budget. We didn’t just discuss what worked, we also grilled them about what didn’t. We are walking into this investment with our eyes open.
Pinecrest’s crime rate is at an all-time low. Our police force is on the cutting-edge of technology. Our community is using 21st-century technology to amplify our police force’s impact and reach. All of these things are worth celebrating. But even more important, our communities need to recognize that management, leadership and best practices from the top down create the environment where good government can take root to serve our friends and neighbors.
