Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are going to SPIDR Tech to purchase software to build relationships with their communities.
SPIDR Tech, based in Mesa, gives law enforcement agencies the technology they need to provide communities with the services such as providing an immediate response by automatically sending text messages to a caller, serving crime victims by sending them updates about their cases, and measuring and improving community interactions by turning feedback into actionable insights.
“We were the first company ever to come out with this automated customer service form for all public safety. We have a little over 80 customers in the U.S. and Canada today that are using it around the continent now,” said Rahul, who launched the company in 2015 with two other co-founders.
SPIDR Tech was originally located in Manhattan Beach, Calif., before the COVID-19. Once COVID surfaced they moved to Arizona and went fully remote. Their new headquarters is in Mesa, Arizona, but the company is fully remote.
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SPIDR Tech sold its company to Versaterm Public Safety in August of 2021 for an undisclosed amount.
Versaterm is a Canada-based company that sells computer-aided dispatch, records management, mobile data, field reporting, citizen engagement and related technology to first responder agencies.
“We decided to sell to them because they have a strong reputation with customers. They do not lose customers typically, and in an industry where trust is important, we prioritized our acquisition of a company we felt matched that ideal,” Sidhu said.
Like Versaterm, SPIDR Tech specializes in improving public perception and customer service by building public perception and building trust within the communities.
Agencies buy the services SPIDR Tech provides and implements the technology into their own databases. Most of the agencies that use SPIDR Tech are law enforcement agencies.
Jim Munro, a commander with the Grover Beach Police Department in Grover Beach, Calif., said he used SPIDER Tech with two of the agencies he has been with. They use the surveys that SPIDR Tech offers to get responses from residents.
An agency can create a survey and send it out to the public for a response, then they compile the data looking at what the community response to broaden what services they provide, Munro said.
“It is pretty awesome because before we had SPIDR Tech, the only way to get feedback from the community was to try and pick a random sample and literally put letters in the mail and ask them to send back a handwritten survey,” Munro said.
Munro said that The Grover Beach Police Department would use the feedback they compiled from using SPIDR Tech and make graphics with comments from the community to send out to the public.
“For an overall percentage we are at 98.4%, which is like an a plus in service,” Munro said. “That is pretty huge for a police department these days.”
Not only does the company provide surveys but they also send automated communication to crime victims.
When a report is filed, the technology will send crime victims a text or an email that sends specific updates of the report. From the required documents they need to send to their insurance company to what they should expect is going to happen is all a part of the reports.
“It will guide you through that entire process. You can go to an agency website and track the status of your investigation,” Sidhu said. “It will do all those things, so you are never wondering what is happening.”
Since SPIDR Tech deals with text messages and communications they must be very compliant with the criminal justice information system for the FBI, state-level justice information systems, and fully FCC compliant.
“There is a regulatory understanding that we have to abide by that is a little bit more unique to our industry,” Sidhu said.
SPIDR Tech is constantly trying to improve and connect with more agencies, but they want to be sure they make the right decisions. They are working alongside some agencies in Phoenix, but some of the other projects have yet to be announced.
According to Rahul, SPIDER Tech is used in Arizona law enforcement agencies such as Surprise, Kingman, and Tucson. Some agencies in Maricopa County are currently in the process of working with SPIDR Tech but have yet to make the announcement.
“We want to make sure when we do go outside of the U.S. and Canada that we have a very good understanding of how that is going to work and that we can make that investment in the smartest way possible,” Rahul said.
