How the Modesto Police Department keeps patrol officers safer with mobile data integration

KEY IDEAS:

• The Modesto Police Department needed a mobile-friendly data integration solution to help patrol officers access and act on critical information in the field.
• Disconnected systems limited officers’ ability to quickly gather context during high-risk situations like traffic stops.
• Peregrine provides real-time, mobile access to unified public safety data, improving situational awareness and officer safety.
• By streamlining workflows and centralizing data, Peregrine helps short-staffed agencies operate more efficiently in the field.

💡 MODESTO POLICE DEPARTMENT AT A GLANCE:

Location: Modesto, California

Established: 1911

Population: Approx. 220,592

Sworn count: Approx. 211

Total personnel: Approx. 370

Sources: Modesto Police Department, Modesto Police Historical Society, U.S. Census

MODESTO, Calif. — Patrol officers at the Modesto Police Department rely on a variety of technologies in their squad cars, including:

• Body-worn cameras
• Dashboard cameras
• Mobile automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras
• Mobile devices such as tablets, laptops, and smartphones

Many of those tools collect and contain large amounts of data — and timely access to that data is critical for officer safety. However, Modesto's patrol officers struggled to fully harness relevant data on the go without an integration solution.

“We have to give patrol officers as much information as possible to help them make sound decisions, for their own safety and the citizens' safety,” Thaddeus Johnson, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Georgia State University, told Police1.

READ MORE → How the Modesto Police Department Uses Integrated Data To Power Its Mobile Real-Time Information Center

Patrol officers rely on data for situational awareness in situations like traffic stops, according to Modesto PD Detective Joshua Lawrence. Though traffic stops are routine, it’s “the most routine situations that sometimes end up being the most dangerous,” Lawrence said.

At the start of a traffic stop, an officer may only know a license plate number and the number of occupants. Without integrated data, they lack critical context, such as:

• Prior incidents
• Warrants
• Known risks

As a result, officers may be forced to make decisions with incomplete information.

🔎 HOW DO PATROL OFFICERS USE DATA DURING TRAFFIC STOPS? During a traffic stop, officers use data such as license plate information, prior incidents, and warrants to assess risk and determine how to approach a vehicle. Integrated data platforms like Peregrine make this information accessible in real time, improving situational awareness.

To help keep officers safe and improve data access for patrol personnel, Modesto PD invested in Peregrine. Peregrine provides real-time, mobile access to unified public safety data, giving officers immediate context in the field. With Peregrine, an officer can run a mobile search on a license plate to instantly access integrated data from:

• The agency’s ALPR systems
• Records management systems
• Other unified data sources

Lawrence told Police1 this data helps officers make critical decisions in real time, such as: “From which side to I approach the vehicle? Do I need to get a second officer on the scene before I approach it?”

Lawrence added that improved data access is especially valuable as Modesto PD faces staffing shortages, enabling officers to do more with fewer resources.

“One officer empowered by a handful of tech tools can handle the tasks of two officers without tech support,” Lawrence told Police1.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: By providing real-time, mobile access to unified data, Peregrine enables Modesto PD officers to make safer, faster decisions in the field. This improves situational awareness and helps short-staffed teams operate more effectively.