Multi Agency CAD Migration Transforms Operations
May 12, 2025 by Jillian Donley
For public safety agencies, collaboration can mean the difference between chaos and control. Recognizing the need for stronger collaboration and data connectivity, the Stark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio migrated four local agencies to a unified cloud-hosted dispatch system.
Each agency in the county previously operated with its own software solutions, which created significant barriers for information distribution among dispatchers and law enforcement.
Maj. Mitchell Paulen, chief information officer for the Stark County Sheriff’s Office, said officers used to rely on emails and phone calls to share vital intelligence with other agencies.
“Before, there was very little collaboration,” Lt. Don Burns said. “Being more in contact with local agencies has definitely helped us.”
As a trusted leader among local agencies, the sheriff’s office led the initiative to implement CAD integrations that would improve process flows for its multi-agency board.
These solutions included:
- Installation of jail software
- Cloud migration of dispatch systems for four agencies
- Deployment of records management system software
- Transition to cloud-hosted Report Writing tool
“We asked a lot of questions, had a lot of demos with Tyler, and this is where we landed,” Paulen said.
The solutions rollout followed a tiered approach with a jail software installment in late 2022 and the RMS implementation and cloud migration a year later.
For the sheriff’s office, moving systems to the cloud was a game changer.
“I remember our IT staff,” Burns said. “The system would crash, and I knew I was going to see them running down the hallways.”
Now, IT no longer scrambles to maintain servers.
The cloud-hosted system has reduced IT burden, resulting in fewer network issues, power outages and server failures.
“I would say, don’t fear the cloud,” Paulen said. “I know a lot of people still like to keep stuff on premise — they have that control. It’s in their network, but honestly, this shifting off and reducing management and risk for your agency and then building out county-wide redundancy is a huge key aspect to us.”
I know a lot of people still like to keep stuff on premise — they have that control. It’s in their network, but honestly, this shifting off and reducing management and risk for your agency and then building out county-wide redundancy is a huge key aspect to us.
Maj. Mitchell Paulen
chief information officer, Stark County Sheriff's Office
Cloud-hosted technology has also given officers in Stark County on-demand data access, fostering stronger collaboration and reducing doubled efforts on reports in the enforcement process. As a result, officers are back on the road and responding to calls faster.
“The more of us there are on the streets, the better response you get.” Paulen said. “That’s the service we provide — response and safety.”
By unifying technology across four local agencies, the Stark County Sheriff’s Office has removed longstanding barriers to operational efficiency and unlocked new opportunities for innovation, helping the agency to focus more intently on what it does best: protecting and serving its communities.