Page 42 - PCPA Summer 2025 Bulletin Magazine

PA CHIEFS OF POLICE ASSOCIATION
BETHLEHEM POLICE DEPARTMENT RECLAIMS 50% OF OFFICER SHIFT TIME WITH MODERN RMS
Modernizing Operations, Enhancing Transparency,
and Increasing Community Time
With a population of approximately 100,000, Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, is home to the eighth-largest police force in
the state. Under the leadership of Chief Michelle Kott, the
Bethlehem Police Department (PD) has prioritized innova-
tive, community-focused policing. Recognizing operational
inefficiencies and technological barriers that kept officers
tied to desks instead of out in the field, the department
made the decision to modernize its records management
system (RMS).
The Challenge
Before the transition, Bethlehem PD’s outdated RMS
was hindering productivity and compliance. Officers were
spending up to half of their shifts on administrative tasks.
“Before upgrading our technology, we weren’t able to ac-
cess NIBRS reporting. We relied on UCR and would often
encounter pages of errors that needed to be fixed, mak-
ing the reporting process time-consuming and frustrating,”
said Lieutenant Joshua Schnalzer.
Supervisors faced additional challenges, toggling between
multiple software systems to locate reports and assign
cases. “We as Supervisors didn't have the visibility that we
needed to see all the reports in one place... it was very dif-
ficult for us to keep track of where officers were and get
reports done in a timely manner,” he added.
Chief Kott recalled similar issues when she was a lieuten-
ant: “Back when I was a lieutenant, I would have to assign
cases for follow-up to my detectives... It would delay the
start of investigation which could be extremely detrimental
to a case.” The lack of real-time data and fragmented work-
flows impacted both timeliness and accuracy in decision-
making.
The Solution
In March 2021, the department implemented Mark43 RMS
and Analytics as part of the Lehigh County Consortium’s
technology modernization effort. “Not one person came to
me and said I don’t like it—everyone embraced it,” said
Lieutenant Schnalzer. Chief Kott added, “People were very
happy to make the change. Once officers learned how to
navigate the system, it was quickly embraced.”
42