Case Study
Wake County Sheriff’s Office, NC
Learn how one of North Carolina’s largest sheriff’s offices uses ONESolution™ to overcome staffing shortages, reduce administrative burden, and serve a county of 1.2 million.
About Wake County, NC
Wake County is the capital county of North Carolina and home to more than 1.2 million residents. At the center of it all is the Wake County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO)—a large agency spanning nine divisions with hundreds of employees.
Most law enforcement agencies in the county are part of a consortium, processing their records through WCSO’s system as if it were their own. At that scale, keeping operations running smoothly requires more than good police work. It requires technology that can keep up.
WCSO has been a CentralSquare customer since 1992 and adopted the ONESolution platform around 2011. Today, roughly 1,100 employees within the agency use the platform daily, with about 1,600 users across the county consortium.
Given the size of Wake County, WCSO needed a way to do more with less. Like many public safety agencies, they faced chronic staffing shortages and paper-based processes that created unnecessary (and costly) delays across the organization.
"From the time the 911 phone rings, all the way through the investigation and into the courtroom, there's nothing else out there that we've been able to find…We couldn't find anyone that came close to performing half of what ONESolution does."
Christopher Creech, Major
Wake County Sheriff's Office
The Problem
“Staffing shortages is our number one issue we tackle daily.”
— Christopher Creech, Major, Wake County Sheriff’s Office
Managing law enforcement operations across nine divisions is no small feat—not to mention serving as the records system for an entire county consortium. As a result, WCSO handles an enormous volume of documentation every day.
For years, that volume was managed largely through paper-based operations, with administrative staff handling requests, processing forms, and keeping records in order. It was time-consuming, resource-intensive, and difficult to scale.
Staffing made it worse. Like many departments across the country, WCSO has faced persistent understaffing. With fewer people available to handle the same workload, the inefficiencies of manual processes became harder to absorb.
At the same time, WCSO’s nine divisions each operate with their own workflows, requirements, and processes. A rigid, one-size-fits-all system would only add friction. The agency needed a platform flexible enough to meet each division where it was, while adapting to the needs of every unit.
Capacity Without Headcount
A way to manage high volumes of documentation without adding staff
Flexibility Across Divisions
A platform flexible enough to fit the unique workflows of nine divisions
Operational Resilience
A solution that could sustain operations despite chronic understaffing
The Solution
““We are lucky that we’re able to customize modules to fit each division and unit need across our agency.”
— Christopher Creech, Major, Wake County Sheriff’s Office
In 2011, WCSO adopted CentralSquare’s ONESolution platform and hasn’t looked back. The agency now uses every module ONESolution offers, deploying them across all nine divisions to support incident reporting, mobile field operations, jail management and, most recently, CAD.
ONESolution’s flexibility makes it ideal for WCSO. Rather than forcing divisions to adapt to the software, the platform adapts to them. The Sheriff’s Office has customized several modules to fit the specific needs of its units—most notably the RMS (Records Management System) civil process module, which governs how the agency serves and processes civil process.[1.1] Even within the same state, that workflow varies significantly from county to county, making off-the-shelf functionality insufficient.
Incident reporting and field contacts have been customized as well, enabling functions the agency otherwise wouldn’t be able to perform. Since ONESolution is accessible across every environment (i.e. in facilities, in vehicles, in the field), law enforcement and detention officers and staff can do their jobs wherever the work takes them.
The Results
“From the time the 911 phone rings, all the way through the investigation and into the courtroom, there’s nothing else out there that we’ve been able to find…We couldn’t find anyone that came close to performing half of what ONESolution does.”
— Christopher Creech, Major, Wake County Sheriff’s Office
The impact of ONESolution at WCSO is visible across the organization. Tasks that once consumed administrative staff (i.e. processing field requests, managing paperwork, maintaining records) are now handled directly within the platform, freeing resources for higher-value work. Staffing shortages are still a reality, but ONESolution has helped WCSO absorb that pressure.
After evaluating other public safety solutions, Creech and his team couldn’t find anything that came close. No other vendor offered the same depth of functionality or the ability to scale across an agency as complex as WCSO.
The partnership with CentralSquare has reinforced that confidence. When WCSO flagged a suggestion to the support team, it was written into a module within days—a level of responsiveness Creech says is rare in the industry.
Looking ahead, WCSO is preparing to roll out two additions: ONESolution CAD and digital evidence management (DEMs). Both are expected to strengthen investigative capabilities and make it easier to collect digital evidence, including doorbell and security footage, from community members who choose to participate.
Wake County Sheriff’s Office has relied on CentralSquare for more than three decades. For law enforcement agencies facing staffing shortages and paper-heavy processes, ONESolution offers a proven path forward.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing on our website, you expressly consent to our use of cookies, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.