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Metropolitan Police to trial GPS positioning technology on police officers
Force to begin two-month trial of Automatic Person Location Systems (APLS) technology at the end of this month.
The £2.2 million scheme will be introduced in Kensington and Chelsea but is expected to be rolled out across other regions of London.
Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has announced he wants officers patrolling London alone rather than in pairs.Some have argued this would be unsafe but senior Met officials have said the APLS radios will allow officers to be found at any given time.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police toldThe Independent the new technology would not replace the existing Airwave radio system, but would be incorporated into the handsets, adding: "When an officer presses their emergency button the MPS is able to identify the individual officer but not their specific location. This then takes time to analyse where they have been deployed and where they may be.
"Although they may be located by their police vehicle, if they are assigned to one, they still may not be near their vehicle when they require urgent assistance. APLS will mean that an officer in need of urgent assistance will be able to be located and assisted much more easily."
The system works by sending an automatic satellite signal to the officer's radio at designated intervals. Using this information, the officer's position is plotted on a map. As his or her position changes the map creates a "slug trail" showing not only where the officer is, but where he or she has been.
