San Francisco Police Add Email, Voice Mail to Their Ranks

While most police departments in the U.S. updated their technology years ago, the San Francisco police force didn't until six months ago. In April, the department hired a chief information officer for the first time and started the wheels of change across the 2,400-person force. Pilot email and voice-mail programs for each individual officer have since been installed in two of the department's 10 stations, and the new systems will hit remaining stations in the next year. The SFPD is just getting started with mass email and voice mail even though San Francisco is just minutes from Silicon Valley, the birthplace of technologies such as Internet search and online video. But hampered by a tight budget, the SFPD for years forwent email and voice mail and operated in what officers referred to as the Stone Age. Each station previously had a single email address, and most officers received messages on bulletin boards. When residents wanted to follow up on a case or query, they had to set up an appointment via a station's single telephone line or write a letter and stick it in the mail.