£50m mobile funding to keep police on the beat

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.

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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.