The Knoxville City Council approved the purchase of a new records management system for the police department at its meeting Monday. City Manager Heather Ussery says the current system is outdated, and the new one will provide better efficiency for officers to perform their jobs.

“Our current records system is significantly outdated, it’s from the early 2000’s. Our administration staff are the only two that are able to access it without increasing the licenses for it. Chief Fuller has been looking into this system, it’s the same one the Marion County Sheriff’s Office uses, so this will add continuity between the departments because they do our dispatching. It will also allow our officers more access to the system for their reporting. It will save them time in the office and give them more time out on the streets.”

The council approved the purchase at a cost of $25,750. Marion County IT will charge the police department a $5,000 annual fee for connecting the Shieldware RMS server to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office network and for IT services.