British Transport Police has rolled out handheld devices
and wearable printers to 400 officers in the face of initial strong
opposition to boost its policing of the London Underground by
ensuring officers spend less time in the office.
The mobile roll-out, which was completed in October, went
smoothly thanks in part to an internal marketing campaign with
teaser posters and intranet coverage targeted at possible
cynics.
"Police officers do not tend to want to be involved in any
cutting-edge IT project from the outset. They think it is not going
to work, and it will just be tech junk to carry around," said
Andrew Watson, chief information officer at British Transport
Police.
"We gave them the opportunity to snipe at it, and also gave
enough officers access to the trials. Initially officers hated it.
Through time they thought it might be useful. Now, all the forces
are screaming for it."
Watson said the mobile system had already enabled officers to
speed up the stop-and-search process by taking out up to half an
hour of office-based administration.
The system comprises a Microsoft Pocket PC-based O2 XDA II
phone/PDA, and a wearable Brother MW140 A7 sheet printer, with an
encrypted Bluetooth wireless link between the devices.
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