The following article appeared in Public Service Review: Home Affairs, issue 19 During 2008 the Home Office allocated £80 million of funding over the next three years to support the delivery of handheld computers to frontline police officers. The devices give officers on-the-spot access to vital information and help to reduce the amount of time spent on bureaucracy back at the station. The funding was provided to increase the number of devices used by officers to 30,000 by March 2010. The roll-out, managed by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), has already exceeded its first milestone to have 10,000 devices in force by September 2008 and the second phase of roll-out is well underway. All forces in England, Scotland and Wales have now received a portion of the funding. Officers are now beginning to see the benefits as the new devices come into service. Having access to information in the right format when out of the station gives officers greater visibility within communities they serve by allowing them to complete forms and receive information without returning to the station. Inputting information straight into a mobile device cuts out repetition with paper forms. It also improves the quality of information recorded. Mobile devices allow officers to improve their situational awareness by receiving textual and visual information, identify people that are of interest including vulnerable people and those wanted, complete forms, e-mail and capture photos such as graffiti which they can share with 'partners' to improve the quality of life within communities. We are increasingly seeing a move towards national standards in information systems for police forces and while each force is responsible for delivering its own mobile solution, the NPIA is helping them gain the most out of using handheld computers. As well as a programme that assists forces to realise the benefits of using this technology, we have also made agreements with suppliers to allow forces to reduce procurement times and to gain from greater economies of scale. Other shared services will become available over the next 12 months. The NPIA, in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers, Association of Police Authorities and the Home Office, has led on the allocation of funding to police forces. The NPIA is now developing a range of national support services to help forces realise the most from the new technology. As well as recommending the distribution of funding, the role of the NPIA in mobile information includes overseeing the continuing development of the mobile information programme to promote and support changing working practices. The programme is delivering in the following areas:
The Acceleration Package offers police forces the opportunity to select services from national frameworks, leveraging the buying power of the police service.
The packages are off-the-shelf products that provide a nationally hosted end-to-end service, including support functions and accreditation, that are needed to deploy and use handheld computers.
Forces can use the package as a benchmark to measure other suppliers, making sure of value for money on contracts.
Mobile devices are a platform for many other applications, including:
. Collision Recording And Sharing (CRASH) which will replace existing paper forms used to record road traffic collisions.
. IDENT - is making it easier to identify people using fingerprinting. This enhanced identification system will be delivered under a project called Midas
. Penalty Notice Processing Project (PENTIP) - The PentiP project will replace the existing penalty notice process systems.
. Police National Computer (PNC) - Access to PNC by officers is critical and mobile devices provide a valuable new avenue to access this information.
All UK forces can benefit when we learn and understand each other's success.
The benefits management work of the programme will give a clear insight into how mobile information is making police-work more efficient and demonstrate best practice to help us all achieve the best results.
