California Police Chief- Fall 2013 | Page 9

CopBook Offers Secure Sharing Modeled after Facebook, innovative new tool rolls out in Redlands The Redlands Police Department isn’t just embracing social media – it’s forging a new path that could become a model for law enforcement agencies across the country. Under the guidance of Chief Mark Garcia, the Redlands PD is using a new Facebook-like tool for its officers that’s a more modern and streamlined spin on information-sharing tools created over the last decade for federal and state law enforcement agencies. The Redlands PD is believed to be the first municipal police department in the country to launch what it calls CopBook, an idea that started gaining traction during the tenure of Garcia’s predecessor, former Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann. Similar to the ubiquitous social-media tool that has made Mark Zuckerberg a household name, CopBook allows Redlands PD officers to share information to members divided into such groups as patrol and investigations, or individually to those who have created profiles on the website. Redlands Chief Mark Garcia “CopBook provides us with both a method for instantly sharing informa