City to implement eBlotter system

The city government has allocated P2.3 million for the implementation of a computerized blotter system that would be completed before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in December.

With the project already in its final stages, the city already purchased a server and 18 computer units to be installed in all police stations in the city. The allocation of P2.3 million is intended for the software, hardware and connection phases of the project.

In a letter to Councilor Augustus Pe, chairman of the council committee on dangerous drugs, Cebu City Police Office chief Melvin Gayotin admitted that police stations in the city encounter delays in the submission of the daily journal and other police station certifications owing to the unavailability of computers.

A team was subsequently organized to conduct a systems study and analysis and was tasked to design the information system for the computerization of police blotters.

Dubbed as the eBlotter, the information system will run in a wide area network connecting to the 18 computers, 11 of which will be in 11 police stations, four in the city police office, one in the traffic patrol group office, one in the mobile patrol group office, and one in the office of Councilor Procopio Fernandez, chairman of the council committee on police.

The system would also be connected to the computers in Pe's and Mayor Tomas Osmeña's offices. Globelines will provide a 24-hour communication for the network through Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network.

With the eBlotter, all blotter records would be visible at the network server anytime of the day. The individual reports of each precinct would then be consolidated into a single report that can be accessed by the city police chief.

The blotter records will be stored in a database and will "interface" with the digitized maps of the city to graphically view the reported crime incidents for analysis and strategic planning of the city police.

The eBlotter database would also serve as reference database in the issuance of certifications and the preparation of documents in the filing of complaints by police before the City Prosecutor's Office.

Desk officers in all city police stations will undergo training on the use of the eBlotter while selected police personnel will be trained on the Geographic Information System. - Joeberth M. Ocao