Police murder enquiry system gets upgrade

Plans are being developed to replace the serious crime investigation system used by UK police.

The Police Information Technology Organisation (Pito) said work has begun on scoping out the requirements for a replacement for Holmes 2, used to run crime investigations and casualty bureaux following major incidents.

For example, Holmes 2 was used during the Soham murders enquiry and the 7/7 London bombings. Most forces use Holmes 2 to administrate the vast majority of their murder enquiries due to the volume and complexity of these types of enquiry.

The business case is currently being drawn up by Pito for Holmes 2020, which will replace Holmes 2 and support police until 2020.

Pito said the project will use a "twin-track approach" to make sure police are fully supported throughout the changeover. The existing Holmes 2 will be maintained and modified while Holmes 2020 development activity is planned.

Jon Stoddart, chief constable of Durham Constabulary and Holmes 2020 executive lead, said in a statement: "The police service faces a significant challenge in handling mass fatality incidents and major investigations.

"It is vital IT applications that support these operations reflect the business processes, rules and procedures involved to ensure a sophisticated approach to the management of large-scale incidents in the public's interest."

Updates to Holmes 2 being considered include the ability to store multimedia evidence from CCTV or mobile phones for later use in court.