What I found when we looked closer
Milton-Freewater formed in 1951 when the rival towns of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. Today 7,151 people live on just under two square miles, about 3,500 per square mile, in a wine-growing valley with its own American Viticultural Area, The Rocks District.
That density keeps a small department busy, and because the Walla Walla Valley crosses the state line, some cases involve Washington agencies too.
In their words
My guys were super impressed with the software.
Joe ShurtzChief · Milton-Freewater Police DepartmentFollowing one report through the building
The first thing we do with a new department is trace where a report goes after the officer hits submit. Here, it passes through 3 hands:
- 1Officer
- 2Sergeant
- 3Umatilla County district attorney
Every one of those readers needs the same facts from the first draft. That is what shaped what we built.
What we built for them
Source-linked drafts are easy for Washington partner agencies to read and verify.
What we're watching
These are the signals that will tell us whether it's working here:
- Same-shift report completion
- Cross-state cases handed off without a rewrite
Figures on this page come from the department's own published materials. We only publish Code Four results after the department reviews them.
