Our Work: Requirements Analysis for Law Enforcement

Washington law enforcement officers were using the Electronic Traffic Information Processing (eTRIP) systems to create electronic traffic citations and collision reports in the field. The eTRIP systems then transmitted the information to systems at partner agencies, such as the courts and prosecutors.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission was ready to expand eTRIP to include 2 additional document types: the DUI Packet (comprised of 1 to 9 forms) and the vehicle impound form. But first they asked Resource Data to gather requirements, evaluate options, and help them select a solution.

The Solution

At the Commission’s request, we divided our analysis into 2 phases. In the first phase, we

  • Analyzed and documented the processes involving the DUI Packet and vehicle impound form
  • Identified business requirements associated with these processes
  • Researched legal requirements, such as rules around electronic signatures
  • Evaluated potential solutions against the requirements
  • Recommended a solution

In the second phase, we completed the technical and interface requirements for the selected solution. This documentation included

  • System navigation maps
  • State models
  • Data flow diagrams
  • A conceptual data model
  • Potential screen mockups

Our Approach

We held one-on-one interviews with more than 20 subject matter experts from agencies such as law enforcement, the court system, and the Department of Licensing.

We also conducted job shadowing—observing individuals perform their work. For law enforcement officers, job shadowing took the form of ride-alongs: we watched as they made DUI arrests and saw the entire process from traffic stop to the suspect being booked.

Because the DUI and impounding processes are extensive, presenting our findings in a consumable format was challenging. To address this issue, we decomposed the overall process into a hierarchy of discrete subprocesses. For each subprocess, we described it in narrative form and also visually with process and data flow diagrams.