The introduction of the government's policing pledge in the spring highlighted a significant shift in UK policing strategy.
The pledge, a set of promises aimed at improving communication between residents and their local police force, sets its sights on providing the customer service we have only previously seen from the private sector – a goal that will be welcomed by many.
However, in order to increase arrests and conviction rates and deliver improved services to victims, witnesses and communities, the right technology needs to be in place. It's not just about the "face" of policing being more acceptable to the public it serves; rather it is about using technology to connect the organisation from the back office, through the front office and right into the front line.
But just how well equipped is the police force to do this? Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, recently pointed out that a lack of joined-up thinking across the 43 forces in England and Wales was responsible for it taking almost a decade to rollout the Airwave digital radio service.
Indeed, police and law enforcement agencies have long recognised that they have been operating in "information silos", employing multiple databases, systems and custom software to meet their individual departments, specialist units or local team investigation needs. This has created challenges over integration, information sharing and data quality.
Fortunately, there are many IT initiatives underway that are helping to alleviate this problem. They include the recently announced police national database, designed to be a central repository of crime data, and crime mapping, which makes crime details available to the public in an interactive and informative way. While it's true that each of these initiatives will deliver benefits, without a coherent and joined up vision and plan to bring them together, resources will be used in a less than optimal manner.
The National Policing Improvement Agency has begun work on a new IT strategy to increase efficiencies across police forces in England & Wales; this is a step in the right direction. One clear way to begin the process is to build solutions on an open platform, based on open standards and interoperability between data systems. This will allow police forces to automate processes, streamline intelligence gathering, and increase productivity and efficiency across force boundaries. It will minimise administration and bureaucracy, and ensure that all back office activities contribute to a more effective investigative progress, where work is correctly prioritised, assigned and monitored. This will then lead to more effective and successful investigations. If evidence, a person or a crime scene is connected to multiple cases, this association will be instantly recognisable to police officers. The benefits are obvious.
Technically this open standards approach is deliverable right now. What's now needed is for the NPIA to lead the way and drive this change throughout the 43 UK forces. Strong leadership at the centre will ensure this happens quickly.
Simon Godfrey is principal of central and local government at software firm SAP
