El Mirage Police Department Uses Apricot to Connect Survivors with Help

About one in four women and nearly one in 10 men have experienced sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner and have reported at least one impact of the violence, like being concerned for their safety, during their lifetime. Over 43 million women and about 38 million men experience psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. And the victims aren’t the only people on the receiving end of those experiences. Every 44 minutes in Arizona, one or more children witness domestic violence, according to data from the Maricopa Association of Governments.

The El Mirage Police Department (EMPD) Victim Assistance Unit, located in Maricopa County northwest of Phoenix, works to effectively address, prevent, and eradicate domestic violence within its community by proactive policing and providing assistance to survivors of crime. The EMPD Victim Assistance Unit provides information and support services to all victims impacted by all types of violence and trauma, including isolation and physical, verbal, financial, and sexual abuse.

Adaly Anaya is the victim advocate supervisor at EMPD. Adaly leads a team of victim advocates as they connect victims with resources that help them understand the criminal process and aid them in beginning a healthy healing journey. She and her team work with Apricot, Social Solutions’ case and data management solution, every day to help accomplish these goals.

Challenges

Reporting the Grantors

Three major funders of the EMPD Victim Assistance Unit come from a Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant and two Victims’ Rights Program (VRP) grants. To meet the requirements set by these grantors, they must document every contact and service provided for every victim. Before deploying our case management software, much of this reporting was pulled manually, consuming hours of time for Adaly’s team.

Victim Privacy and Government Compliance

As an official arm of the El Mirage law enforcement and criminal justice department, the unit is required to operate with full privacy and compliance when it comes to victims’ data. At a very basic level, they must adhere to Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) compliance mandates, which are set by the FBI. The CJIS mandates require criminal justice entities to follow best practices around the sourcing, transmission, storage, and creation of criminal justice information, such as fingerprint data, criminal background information, arrest reports, sentencing reports, parole reports, and body-worn camera footage. If the EMPD Victim Assistance Unit were to fail to meet these compliance standards, they would risk fines and penalties. Because Apricot’s security features address all points of the CJIS compliancy framework, it is easier for police departments to comply with CJIS. In addition to meeting CJIS standards, compliance and accuracy of information is crucial for police departments’ transparency and trust in their community as well.

High Demand for Efficiency and Accuracy

Without the Apricot solution, Adaly and her team would still use spreadsheets, manual data input, and reporting, which is extremely time consuming and distracts from their direct work with the survivors. While this is a common pain point for many public agencies, for the EMPD Victim Assistance Unit, the compliance and privacy mandates add a tedious layer to data collection and reporting, requiring all data to be extremely accurate and forthcoming. With a manual data management process, this high level of accuracy would be virtually impossible to maintain.

Solutions

The EMPD Victim Assistance Unit utilizes Apricot, Social Solutions’ cloud-based case management software. Adaly came to EMPD from another Arizona police department that didn’t have a case management software in place. She recalls using a patchwork of manual data entry systems, including Excel spreadsheets. In fact, in many instances, she needed to physically drive to different offices to obtain paper files in order to complete case work. Needless to say, when Adaly transferred to El Mirage, where Apricot software was already in place, she was blown away by its ease of use.

Ease of Use for New and Existing Staff

Adaly says that Apricot makes it a lot easier for her team because they’re able to document notes and contacts made with each victim directly within the system. Since each victim has their own folder in Apricot, her team can easily document each police report number and each conversation they have with them, as well as document every type of service that the team is providing. Having every victim’s full and comprehensive information in one, unified location that can be easily updated in real-time has been a major asset to the victim advocates at EMPD.

Adaly says that Apricot helps her team make their victim assistance program run more smoothly and gives her team valuable time back to focus on the needs of their community members, which in turn is helping EMPD stay true to its commitment to public safety.

As far as the learning curve for her team, Adaly notes that, rather than spending time learning a new software, a new victim advocate that joins the team only needs to focus on learning the department’s internal processes and systems. The Apricot case management solution, she says, falls right into place and is “self-explanatory and easy to use.”

Handing Over the Best Data to Grantors

Apricot allows the EMPD Victim Assistance Unit to provide the right data to grantors in a quick and easy fashion. The case management solution gives Adaly and her team the ability to look at data across a community through its highly intuitive visual representation of valuable information. The team collects data on victims, demographics, the type of crime, and the referrals that are provided, and can track every notification and interaction they have with victims. For example, if there are release conditions from jail, court dates, dispositions, or continuances, they can notify the victim quickly, and that all gets tracked within Apricot. Stockpiling data leads to highly effective reporting for its grantors.

Compliance Made Simple

The confidentiality, security, and compliance aspects of Apricot have also been a huge accomplishment for EMPD’s Victim Assistance Unit. Because the only individuals that have access to Apricot are just a few select victim advocates, they can operate with the utmost confidence that case notes and data are kept completely confidential. The El Mirage Police Department staff can communicate with victims directly through the Apricot solution, which guarantees confidentiality for all.

EMPD Victim Assistance Unit uses Apricot to upload digital copies of the letters that they send for every case file, too. Not only can they mail out physical letters, but they’re able to upload them into the system and keep accurate records in case they are ever required to recall the materials.

Successes

Public sector agencies like EMPD Victim Assistance Unit realize the greatest value from Apricot when the system is set up intentionally for their specific grant requirements. Adaly recommends to other police departments that they start by “simply understanding processes, services, and the purposes to fulfill the grants” so that they can configure Apricot most effectively for their needs.

A Leader in the Field

The EMPD Victim Assistance Unit said it has used the data they gather in Apricot to help inform other community safety initiatives in El Mirage. For example, one of its council members is a fierce advocate for domestic violence prevention and suicide awareness, and the Victim Assistance Unit has helped provide resources to this council member for events and other crisis counseling assistance. Since Apricot provides such comprehensive data, Adaly says she is always proud to show off Apricot’s capabilities to anyone interested.

Adaly emphasized how significantly Apricot has contributed to the success of her team’s role by giving them time back to work directly with their survivors and stay committed to other critical responsibilities.

These accomplishments have been noticed by other departments around the El Mirage area. Adaly says the EMPD is known as a leader in their field for its use of technology and has inspired other police departments to adopt technology to improve their work lives, too. Other police departments visit the EMPD offices to gain an understanding of how Apricot is being used and how the case management software benefits the work they do every day.

Ready to create lasting social change? Get in touch today to learn about our solutions.