The Detroit city government that emergency manager Kevyn Orr envisions over the next decade will be a far more advanced operation, no longer limping along with outdated computers and obsolete technology that undercuts everything from accurate tax collection to real-time analysis of crime trends.
City restructuring consultant Charles Moore, who took a deep look at the city’s information technology troubles, told the Detroit Free Press "You’d be hard-pressed to find another municipality of Detroit’s size that operates with these sorts of archaic processes and systems.”
At the Detroit Police Department, the city would spend $38 million on tech improvements, including what it calls a “fully integrated public safety IT system” that would wrap in the city’s Fire Department and EMS.
Moore told the newspaper this is crucial for police officers, who spend far too much time manually completing paperwork that should be automated. With more up-to-date equipment, the data from those electronic reports can be used in real-time crime-tracking systems that can be shared among precincts for more accurate, timely responses.