As in any industry, customer feedback is vital for the continuous improvement of a product or service - lecturers conduct course evaluations, restaurants encourage diners to rank them online, and even transportation companies post signs on their company vehicles that say, “How’s my driving?” Real performance data from people using a product are essential for revisions, and assist organizations in ensuring that they are on track to achieve their mission. This is even true for regional projects like the Strengthening Evidence Based Decision Making for Citizen Security in the Caribbean (CariSECURE) which has the immense goal of using data-based solutions to improve regional security.

As the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) -funded United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-implemented CariSECURE project approaches the roll out of its final milestone in the form of the Police Records and Information Management System (PRMIS), it was essential to capture the feedback from the teams who interacted with the Police Incident Form (PIF). The PIF is the foundation of all data collected, and is the main tool that will allow for robust analysis and crime statistics once full roll out is achieved across the region. As such, CariSECURE launched its “Readiness for PRIMIS” initiative, designed to review various aspects of the PIF implementation. It also used the lessons learned to inform the implementation of PRIMIS.

To achieve this, confidential sessions were conducted with law enforcement officers, primarily Readiness Managers from across the eight territories in which the project is being rolled out. The sessions followed strict monitoring and evaluation (M&E) protocols, with an expert M&E Specialist, Roxanne Beckles-White joining the UNDP implementation team to ensure reliable feedback on the system was captured.  Numerous channels were used to gather feedback including polls, surveys, a focus group interview, and a data quality assessment. The team used the feedback to delve into understanding how the form was used, user satisfaction, the quality of the data in the database, the overall impact of CariSECURE training, and how it is helping to-date.

Initial feedback indicated that there was a positive perception of the CariSECURE project and the tools provided. One hundred percent of those responding to the survey said crime analysis and reporting processes and procedures were improved.  Across countries, there was an overall positive response and enthusiasm towards the implementation of the PRMIS platform. The feedback showed that there is a collective need for process reform, supporting policy and legislation development, and additional hardware to support the digital collection of quality crime data with mechanisms in place to govern its use.

Speaking to the use of the data, Roxanne Beckles-White explained, “This data will be used to identify effective change management techniques as stations transition to digital platforms and help us to highlight any other issues that could potentially impact the efficient implementation and use of PRMIS.”