Elkhart County, Indiana, Goes Live on Caliber’s Full Public Safety Software Platform

On April 28, 2026, Elkhart County, Indiana, went live on the full Caliber platform, and the results speak to what happens when the right technology meets the right preparation.

What Elkhart County Deployed

Elkhart County serves more than 207,000 residents across approximately 467 square miles in northern Indiana. The county is the sixth most populous in the state and is recognized as the RV Capital of the World.

The deployment included:

• Premise CAD across 18 positions at two locations
• 8 WebCAD subscriptions for expanded situational awareness
• 290+ Mobile licenses for patrol and field operations
• 31 Pocket Cop licenses for law enforcement officers
• 31 Pocket Rescue licenses for fire and EMS personnel
• 440 Online RMS subscriptions serving both sworn and non-sworn personnel

This is a full public safety software platform deployment covering dispatch, field operations, and records management in a single connected system.

Seven Months from Contract to Go-Live

The project was signed in September 2025 and went live on April 28, 2026. That is a seven-month timeline from contract to full operations. Deployment covered CAD, Mobile, and RMS, countywide.

That timeline was not accidental. Every phase of the project followed Caliber’s proven implementation methodology. Their methodology includes thorough discovery, careful configuration, and structured training well before the go-live date. County staff had the opportunity to review system functionality and confirm they were ready before the switch.

Agencies evaluating public safety CAD software, law enforcement RMS solutions, or mobile platforms for first responders should understand that deployment timelines depend on structured planning, not shortcuts. Caliber’s approach treats every implementation as a partnership, not just a product delivery.

What Happened on Go-Live Day

The Caliber team was on site and ready. Here is what go-live day looked like in practice:

• Deployment staff ran a managed command center, both on-site and remotely, monitoring system performance and resolving technical matters in real time.
• Dedicated support personnel were stationed on the dispatch floor, working directly alongside 911 dispatchers throughout the transition.
• Mobile and Pocket solution specialists supported police, fire, and EMS agencies individually, drawing on deep product knowledge and Indiana-specific public safety expertise.
• RMS support was provided at individual agencies, including the Goshen Police Department and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office, both in person and remotely.

With 10 CAD workstations staged and ready at the 911 Center, the team cut over to live operations at 11:30 AM. The first incident handled in the new system was a medical emergency call. Operations were in full stride from that point forward.

Beyond the technology, the Caliber team focused on the human side of the transition. This included keeping spirits up during long hours and making sure every person involved felt supported.

What the 911 Director Had to Say

Egbert Dijkstra, Director of the 911 Center at Elkhart County, shared his experience after the go-live:

“I want to commend Caliber on their team: the tech support and IT team. They helped above and beyond and did it with class and a great attitude. It has been a pleasure working with everyone at Caliber.”

Dijkstra noted that the experience reflected what he described as the Caliber culture: a team that communicates openly, attacks challenges with professionalism and urgency, and is focused on building a long-term partnership rather than just delivering software.

That kind of feedback matters because it reflects the real experience of the people who depend on public safety technology every day.

How CAD, Mobile, and RMS Work Together on One Platform

One of the most significant advantages for Elkhart County is that its CAD, Mobile, and RMS systems now share data in real time. Here is what that means in practice:

• Incident details entered by a dispatcher in CAD populate automatically in both the Mobile client and the RMS. Officers do not re-enter the same data across multiple systems.
• Officers updating reports from the field see that information is reflected immediately for supervisors and investigators back at the station.
• Every member of the team sees a consistent, up-to-date picture of operations from dispatch through case closure.

This connected architecture eliminates redundant data entry, reduces errors, and gives dispatchers, officers, and investigators a shared operating picture at all times. For agencies evaluating public safety CAD systems, law enforcement records management software, or mobile data solutions, interoperability between these tools is a requirement for effective operations.

How Hosting and Updates Work

Caliber’s Online RMS is hosted at Nlets (the International Justice and Public Safety Network) data centers. These facilities meet FBI CJIS standards and feature full multi-site hot backup disaster recovery along with redundant network paths to key state and federal entities.

Because the RMS is hosted, Elkhart County benefits from automatic software updates. Caliber delivers three major releases per year and monthly service pack updates, deployed on the first Tuesday of each month. The county will always operate on the latest version without the burden of managing upgrades in-house.

For agencies searching for a cloud-hosted law enforcement RMS or a CJIS-compliant records management system, this hosting model delivers continuous improvement without adding IT overhead.

Data Ownership and Retention

Agencies evaluating public safety software platforms often ask about data ownership. With Caliber, the answer is straightforward: all data within the platform remains the sole and exclusive property of your agency at all times. Caliber makes no claim of ownership over any information an agency enters, generates, or stores in the system.

The platform also provides full support for retention policies. It tracks retention end dates for individual property items, and designated roles such as seizing officers and assigned investigators receive proactive notifications when evidence or held property approaches a retention review threshold. These notification timeframes are fully configurable on a per-agency basis.

Why This Deployment Matters

Michael Sturgeon, Senior Project Manager at Caliber Public Safety, summarized the significance of the project:

“Elkhart County brought exceptional leadership and preparation to this project. The result speaks for itself: a county of over 200,000 residents now served by a modern, unified public safety platform that went live on schedule and on mission.”

This deployment is a clear example of what Caliber delivers: a full public safety software platform covering CAD, Mobile, and Online RMS, implemented on time, with hands-on support from a team that understands the realities of 911 dispatch, law enforcement, and fire/EMS operations.

Read the full press release here. 

About Caliber Public Safety

Caliber Public Safety provides integrated technology for law enforcement, fire/EMS, corrections, and 911 communications agencies. The Caliber platform includes CAD, Mobile, Online RMS, and JailTracker, all built by and for public safety professionals. With a focus on reliability, interoperability, and ease of use, Caliber serves hundreds of agencies across the country, helping first responders spend less time on technology and more time serving their communities.