Dillon predicts the database will foster collaboration. For example, someone who is starting an after school program can find out which schools have a school resource officer and coordinate with them. The ultimate goal is to tie the database to performance indicators using the city s GIS system. That will position departments to benefit from the data collection activities of other departments and do some creative problem solving. It replaces thousands of physical maps, covering 460 square miles of parcels, streets, sewer lines and other data, with a desktop application that can overlay one map with one or many others.
Departments use the system for spatial analysis, as well as planning and decision support.
For example, Public Works uses a GIS-generated map of land parcels and streets to estimate when trash vehicles on certain routes will be full, and to select optimum routes. The Police Department plans to use maps of district population density, resident demographics, and crime statistics to decide where to deploy patrol officers. GIS also enables faster response times in key areas, says Bill Bayham, deputy information technology director. Individual departments maintain their own data. The Planning Department refreshes zoning and census data, the Engineering Department tracks parcels, and so forth.