By Tim Ferguson, 27 May 2008 09:50
NEWS
Police across the UK will receive mobile data devices to be used on the beat as part of a £50m investment from the government.
The funding was announced by policing minister, Tony McNulty, and will see around 10,000 handheld computers distributed to 27 police forces across the UK.
Wireless from A to Z
Click on the links below to find out more
A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee
The aim is to increase the time police officers can spend on the beat by cutting down on paper work and reducing the need to return to the police station to file reports.
The project is a collaboration of the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA).
Richard Earland, NPIA CIO explained that officers will be able to access databases such as the Police National Computer and command and control systems.
McNulty said the move was one of a number of improvements to "cut unnecessary bureaucracy, exploit new technologies and enable police officers to spend more time on front line policing".
The Met Police in London is one of the 27 forces to be getting the devices along with the British Transport Police, all eight Scottish forces and all three in the Yorkshire region.
Forces applied for a share of the funding to the NPIA, detailing training and plans in place to have the necessary infrastructure ready by September 2008 or March 2009.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
OK in addition to over 2000 laptops 'lost' by the govt every year we can add a few hundred handheld devices with access to PNC. Whose side are these people on.
2. anonymous
£5000 a piece, good god are they gold plated, even an i-Phone isn't that expensive and would probably do the job just as well if not better.
3. GALLEY SLAVE#41
Whatever happened the good old note book and pencil?
4. anonymous
How on earth is a hand held computer going to save a copper time on paperwork? Is it going to write his/her report? Is it going to fill out all the forms they presently have to fill out automatically?
Not a chance. In fact I'd go further and bet the amount of paperwork they end up having to complete will be greater. I've seen it all before. They will be used by bureaucrats as an excuse to expand beat police paperwork.
5. Chris Goodman
I fail to see how the prevention and detection of crime - which is the real job of the police - will be improved by encumbering the bobby with a handheld computer. In all liklihood it will mean that the few remaining police without a car will have to be so provided.
Of course the Government says it is providing the funding - but it is yet another un needed drain on us cash strapped taxpayers.
6. Martha
This is brilliant news. Coppers can now be out there 'catching criminals' rather than filling out paperwork in triplicate. They can even check criminal databases to find out when they're being told porkies. Let's come back to this story in a year's time and see if it has 'produced any results', as we call it in business.