One of the most time-consuming and challenging tasks for public safety administrators is police shift scheduling. Police departments juggle 24-hour scheduling needs, special duty assignments, court days, and more. To simplify police shift scheduling, many law enforcement agencies are implementing scheduling software to save on cost and mitigate risk and liabilities.
What is police shift scheduling software?
Police shift scheduling software automates the process of creating and managing officers’ schedules. Most workforce management software features are purpose-built to meet the demands of law enforcement. Automated features, like automated timekeeping and technology integration, are a major difference between manual scheduling and scheduling software. These scheduling software features simplify scheduling and payroll processes for law enforcement agencies.
Below are the five most important police shift scheduling software features we think your agency needs.
What to look for in police shift scheduling software
Most police shift scheduling systems offer helpful features to tackle law enforcement’s complex scheduling needs. When looking for police shift scheduling software, you should keep an eye out for the following features:
- Configurability : it’s configurable to suit your agency’s needs.
- Ease of use: it offers an intuitive user experience.
- Automation: it offers automated features, such as scheduling intelligence and time tracking.
- Integration: it can integrate with your other software, such as your payroll.
- Price: it’s within your agency’s budget.
Top Five Police Scheduling Software Features
Mobile police scheduling app
The most important feature is schedule accessibility. Police officers don’t spend their days inside an office, so accessibility to their schedules through a mobile app is important. Mobile access to scheduling software allows officers and administrators to view real-time schedules. Communication is key when it comes to scheduling, and a mobile app will make scheduling easy and efficient.
Visual dashboard
A visual dashboard is important for both administrators and police officers. Dashboards are a sought-after police scheduling software feature because they answer numerous operational questions at a glance. They also allow all team members to stay in the loop and ensure the right person is in the right place.
A visual dashboard can let you see other relevant information, such as:
- Overtime causes
- Equitable overtime
- Sick leave time
- Fatigue issues
- Leave forecasts
- Agency spend
Police shift scheduling intelligence
Built-in police shift scheduling intelligence helps you minimize mistakes and avoid employee frustration. Police officers keep our communities safe, so it’s important to look for scheduling software features that keep them safe by flagging double bookings and training non-compliance.
Built-in scheduling intelligence prevents double bookings and ensures your schedulers are making smart personnel decisions. Manual scheduling leaves room for error, which can cause extreme fatigue amongst police officers.
Most scheduling intelligence features will allow your agency to implement your own rules and regulations into the software, so you know your scheduling will always be in compliance with your agency’s rules.
Automated time tracking
You should look for a police shift scheduling software that automatically tracks how many hours your officers are working. Automated time tracking allows you to streamline timekeeping and payroll with automated timesheets that flow directly from the schedule.
Look for scheduling software that connects scheduling, payroll, and timesheets. Simple mistakes during manual data entry can end up costing your agency a fair bit of time and money in the long run.
Demos
The last important feature to look for is a tailored demo. There’s nothing worse than having the wrong scheduling software for your agency’s needs. Make sure the software company in consideration is open to letting you take a closer look at the software to see if the shift scheduling system will work for your police department.
InTime police shift scheduling for police officers
InTime is built to help agencies run better. If you’re curious about making the switch from manual scheduling to scheduling software, click here to talk to a product specialist today.
