courtesy Thales
Enabling efficiencies for the Police
In response to the leaked draft of the Flanagan report, Barbara Nash, head of MarComms at Airwave, discusses how the success of mobile data relies on securing the support of the officers who will be using it
"The leaked draft of Sir Ronnie Flanagan's report into the future of policing, covered widely in this morning's newspapers, must be welcomed for the clear guidance it gives police forces on driving process efficiencies. If the details reported by the media prove to be correct when Sir Ronnie Flanagan publishes his report tomorrow, it will stand as the clearest argument yet in favour of arming the country's police officers with mobile data-enabled devices.
Such devices are already on the market and the efficiencies the use of mobile data can bring have been demonstrated time and again in the private sector. It is clear that the needs of the police force are very different to those of private sector companies, but this does not mean mobile data will be any less of a success.
The use of electronic stop and search forms will bring with it a raft of benefits and Sir Ronnie has been unequivocal in his championing of them. Time can be saved as forms will only need to be entered once, at the scene of the search – removing the duplication of effort currently experienced as officers need to re-enter the search details into station-based computers. Electronic forms can also complete a great deal of data automatically by cross referencing with PNC and other databases, further reducing the time it takes for an officer to compete a form. There are, furthermore, cost benefits inherent in the removal of wasteful paper-based systems.
It is not, however, inevitable that mobile data will be an unqualified success. Cultural barriers still remain to the wide acceptance of such modern technologies, and many officers will prefer to stay with the tried and tested methods they are used to. To overcome these barriers it is essential that vendors such as Airwave work closely with the police forces they are supplying to gain buy-in at every level of the force. Officers will only use mobile data solutions that they truly believe in and understand. Vendors should, therefore, work with the end users to develop devices that work for them and are intuitive. If this is done successfully, there is no reason why Sir Ronnie's vision of a modern, efficient police service should not become a reality."
