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Funding for police forces to purchase mobile data devices announced
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 announced the distribution of funding to 27 police forces for a total of 10,000 handheld computers to help officers increase time spent on the beat.
The benefits of personal computers is something BAPCO Journal has covered in detail before and the allocation will enable forces to reduce bureaucracy and work more efficiently as well as spending more time on front line duties.
Commenting on the allocation Tony McNulty said, “This £50 million capital fund will deliver 10,000 mobile data devices to forces and 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.”
To receive a portion of the £50 million funding forces had to apply to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) outlining how the procurement would be managed and how infrastructures would be put in place by either September 2008 or March 2009 to ensure the technology would be ready for deployment.
Richard Earland, Chief Information Officer at the NPIA said, “Officers who have access to databases, such as the Police National Computer, will spend less time returning to the station and more time on the frontline helping to reassure the public and increase visibility.”
The 27 successful forces are: the East Midlands Collaboration, (made up of Nottinghamshire Police, Leicestershire Constabulary, Lincolnshire Police, Derbyshire Police and Northamptonshire Police), Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Association of Police Forces in Scotland (all eight Scottish forces), British Transport Police, Staffordshire Police, Cheshire Constabulary, Essex Police, Lancashire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police, Yorkshire collaboration (North Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police, Humberside Police), Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.
