Computers for bobbies on the beat
POCKET computers for bobbies on the beat will transform policing on the streets of the East Riding.
All beat officers are being issued with mini- computers linking them to the police national data base.
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The new mini-computers will allow officers to spend the maximum time on the beat
Officers will be able to check up-to-the-minute intelligence on criminals and check logs on the state-of-the-art devices, which are accessed by fingerprint.
The £1,500 hand-held computers, similar to the Blackberry, combine e-mail, Internet and phone services.
It will cut trips back to the station for paperwork, meaning bobbies can spend more time on the beat.
They are being issued to more than 120 neighbourhood police officers and police community service officers across the East Riding, following a successful pilot scheme in Scunthorpe.
Chief Inspector Paul Cunningham, who is in charge of neighbourhood policing in the East Riding, said: "It will transform policing on the street. Officers will have police intelligence at their fingertips while they are out on the beat.
"It will keep them out on the street to the very last minute.
"It's about making sure officers are out where the public have access to them and they are doing the job people that people pay their council tax for."
Chief Insp Cunningham said the move will also free-up time on the police radio and save time spent on paperwork.
He explained: "It will free-up radio time because until now, if they were going to do a police national computer check, they had to do it over the radio. Now they can do it instantly on these devices.
"It will also save on form-filling. Whereas previously they had to fill in forms at the police station, this system is compatible so they can do it on the street."
The new technology will be a boost for policing in the rural East Riding, which spans 933 sq m.
The £200,000 roll-out of the portable computers has started this week.
All of the East Riding's neighbourhood officers and PCSOs will be equipped and trained by July 15.
The devices will then be rolled out to more than 150 officers in Hull from mid-July.
Humberside Police has been awarded £1.5m Home Office funding for the force-wide initiative, which is also being backed by £350,000 from Humberside Police Authority.
7 Comments
by Steve, West 'ull
Friday, July 17 2009, 4:11PM
“After every job that police go to they must go back to a near by station to update the incident log, but this can be done on these hand held ones, also checks can be done on them, plus after a stop / talk the government has finally realised it is stupid to give out a copy and even record the stop talk so they aren't recorded anymore, well i say they arent recorded i think the ethnicity of the person is still recorded as government think police are racists. dont quote me its only what ive heard!!!”
by Carla, Sutton
Thursday, June 25 2009, 2:42PM
“Spook, you're an idiot. It actually says in the story that they are going to be given to neighbourhood POLICE OFFICERS and PCSO's so wind your neck in. And they will save time because after every stop and search and incident an officer has to go back to the station and complete paperwork because everything has to be on record. It will instantly be on record if its put into a computer. And as for looking down at the screen, police currently use notepads to record details, they will only be looking down in exactly the same way. Maybe check some facts before mouthing off and just looking for any old excuse to criticise the police.”
by Spook, Hull
Thursday, June 25 2009, 1:17PM
“Why does the headline talk about computers for bobbys on the beat, and the HDM shows a picture of a PCSO. PCSO are NOT police officers, do not have the powers of police officers and take nothing remotely like the risks of police officers, so get that bit right HDM if you can manage it. As for the computers they will make a limited difference at best. Maybe Chief Insp Cunningham can enlighten us as to what forms these computers will complete on the streets. Will they print out stop search/stop talk forms so they can be issued to the member of the public subject of the stop. And by supposedly freeing up radio time how does this put police on the streets longer, do the police go back to the station to carry out PNC checks, or do they not use the already issued airwaves to do this. pho . This is yet another goverment idea very big on rhetoric and claims about what they can do but very small on detail. And once again the public are conned by another goverment claim. And i am not sure that police officers and PCSO standing in the street compiling sensitive information about persons, addresses, crimes, sensitive information etc is such a great idea either. And what about the safety issue of officers dealing with unco-operative members of the public, having a computer in thier hands and looking down at a screen rather than having both hands free and being able to look at the subject cocnerned. And if the subject becomes difficult or runs, whoops i have dropped or broken my computer in the ensuing struggle.”
by Milky_Joe, Bev
Thursday, June 25 2009, 11:15AM
“Wow. Only three negative comments in the first six hours of the story. I would have thought youe miserable s*d's would have managed a few more then that.
And if you are thinking of pinching one Astonomia then you'll need to take the coppers finger as well as they are fingerprint protected. Which you would have realised had you not just read the headline.”
by Astonomia, East Riding
Thursday, June 25 2009, 10:48AM
“How secure are they if one gets pinched?
It also means that they will have to provide reasonable numbers of visible police officers in the East Riding - and that would be a first!”
by Lily, Away from the desk for tea break
Thursday, June 25 2009, 7:59AM
“How long before we get the report that most of these have gone 'missing'?”
by big, ben
Thursday, June 25 2009, 7:34AM
“how long before we get the news headline " police suspended for inapproriate use of police computer,ebaying whilst on duty"”