Policing Minister Tony McNulty, in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities and the National Policing Improvement Agency, has today announced the distribution of funding to 27 police forces for a total of 10,000 handheld computers to help them increase police officer time on the beat. The allocation will help change the way forces operate, enabling them to reduce bureaucracy and work more efficiently increasing the time they spend on front lines duties. Tony McNulty, Minister for Policing, said, "We are investing in new technology to make crime fighting more effective and to save officers' time. This £50 million capital fund will deliver 10,000 mobile data devices to forces. It is just one element of a range of improvements we are delivering to cut unnecessary bureaucracy, exploit new technologies and enable police officers to spend more time on front line policing." The 27 successful forces are: Forces were asked to apply for a portion of the £50 million funding to the National Policing Improvement Agency, detailing how they would manage procurement, staff training and ensuring that the technology and infrastructure were in place and in operation by either September 2008 or March 2009. The applications were evaluated against set criteria and the ACPO led Programme Board made the decision on which bids were supported. Richard Earland, Chief Information Officer at the NPIA said, "Officers who have access to databases, such as the Police National Computer, command and control and intelligence systems while out on patrol, will spend less time returning to the station and more time on the frontline - therefore increasing visibility and reassuring the public. This builds on previous work carried out on a small scale and will streamline access to information at the point of operational decision making."
