Police minister Hazel Blears last week launched a new
system, Impact Nominal Index (INI), to pool police
intelligence.
INI is the first system to be delivered by the Impact programme,
set up to implement recommendations in Michael Bichard's report
following the murders of Soham schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and
Holly Wells.
The system allows officers to rapidly establish whether a police
force elsewhere in the country holds information on someone they
are investigating. In the past this information would not have been
visible outside the force holding the record.
Last month the prime minister was criticised in the House of
Commons for three years of delays to the Impact programme. These
concerns were echoed by the IT suppliers' association
Intellect.
The Impact programme was pushed through by the Police IT
Organisation, which is to be disbanded and its functions
incorporated into the new National Police Improvement Agency.
