A report on the future of policing in England and Wales
has found thatbetter use of technologywill be
needed to help cut red tape and enable officers to spend more time
on the street.
The
review, carried out by chief inspector of constabulary, sir
Ronnie Flanagan, was published by the Home Office. Flanagan
predicts measures such as overhauling the stop-and-search system
and reducing paperwork could save five million man hours a
year.
He recommended greater use of mobile devices to enable officers
to update systems while out of the office.
The National Police Improvement Agency should also begin
building standard processes for use across forces, according to
Flanagan. He said, "They should address the issue of double-entry
information and be used as a precursor to the use of standard IT
systems and mobile devices across all forces."
Forces should also be looking at how
geographical information systems (GIS) and automatic vehicle
location systems (AVLS) could help them.
The report says, "[The NPIA work] should include the creation of
minimum standards for forces in areas such as GIS mapping and AVLS
corporate performance information.
"Forces should explore the benefits of software systems and
using partners' data to identify priority areas."
David Perry, from mobile technology supplier Cognito, said
hand-held devices can help police with day-to-day work. "It is
important for the police to keep track of their actions, but it is
vital that this reporting burden does not impede their ability to
actually to their jobs. Information can be inputted into hand-held
devices to automatically update the police IT system."