MdE, Inc. News

Public safety departments manage a lot of moving parts. From recruiting and onboarding officers to tracking certifications, equipment, and assignments, the workflow spans decades and touches nearly every aspect of operations. Traditionally, agencies have relied on separate systems for personnel, training, vehicles, equipment, and compliance. The result is fragmentation, inefficiency, and lost opportunities for strategic planning. Imagine a new officer, Officer Martinez, joining a mid-sized department. In the past, her personnel record would be stored in one system, her training records in another, her issued equipment in a separate spreadsheet, and vehicle assignments elsewhere. Supervisors had to navigate multiple platforms, double-check entries, and manually reconcile data. This process was not only time-consuming, but it also increased the risk of errors—delays in certifications, lost equipment records, or overlooked training requirements could all impact operational readiness. Now picture the same scenario with MdE’s Hire-to-Retire system. From the moment Officer Martinez is hired, […]

Training is the backbone of every public safety agency, but the process of testing, tracking, and certifying officers can feel overwhelming. Scheduling courses, administering exams, entering scores, and keeping certification records up to date often consumes hours that could be spent on actual instruction or field readiness. Many departments still rely on paper-based testing or disconnected spreadsheets, which not only slows operations but increases the risk of errors and missed deadlines. A regional training academy faced this challenge firsthand. Instructors would hand out physical tests, collect completed forms, and manually enter each score into multiple spreadsheets. If an officer needed a report for certification or an audit, staff had to sift through piles of paper and cross-reference data from multiple sources. Mistakes were inevitable, and the administrative burden was significant. One officer even missed a required refresher course simply because the paperwork hadn’t been properly recorded—a situation that could have […]

Dear Data Doctor, I’m at my breaking point. Between training schedules, personnel files, equipment logs, and compliance reports, I feel like I’m drowning in spreadsheets and paper trails. Dispatch can’t track certifications. Firefighters are sharing gear because no one knows who has what. Our corrections team keeps missing audit deadlines because records are buried in filing cabinets. And don’t even get me started on trying to share information between divisions—it’s chaos. How can we possibly keep up? — Drowning in Data Dear Drowning, You’re not alone—far from it. Every corner of public safety is facing the same struggle: too much information, spread across too many disconnected systems. It’s not that your staff isn’t working hard. It’s that you’re asking them to juggle with one hand tied behind their back. I’ve seen the scene you describe too many times: a dispatcher frantically clicking through folders to confirm a certification before the […]

Officers and supervisors alike know that Internal Affairs investigations are delicate and often stressful. Managing complaints, incidents, and follow-ups is not just about accuracy—it’s about trust, transparency, and the culture of the department. Yet, many agencies still rely on paper files, scattered spreadsheets, and endless email chains, leaving room for mistakes and delays. At a time when community trust is paramount, outdated processes simply aren’t enough. Imagine this scenario: it’s early morning at a mid-sized police department. Sergeant Lee is sitting at her desk, trying to reconcile multiple complaints from the past week. One officer filed a use-of-force report, another is under review for an equipment incident, and a citizen submitted a complaint regarding a traffic stop. She flips through paper files, cross-checks email notes, and tries to piece together timelines from fragmented records. Hours pass, and she still doesn’t have a full picture. The stress is mounting, and critical […]