Devon and Cornwall Police goes digital for paperless policing

Devon and Cornwall Police is moving towards ‘paperless policing’ by rolling out mobile data technology to officers to help deliver improved efficiency and cashable savings. It will be using the Airwave Pronto electronic notebook and suite of mobile policing applications.

In the coming months, officers will be issued with android devices pre-loaded with applications that for the first time will give them remote and mobile access to local and national backend systems. These include the Police National Computer (PNC), as well as the emergency services’ Storm command and control software, Devon and Cornwall Police’s command and control centre and the Unifi crime and intelligence system from Capita.

Devon and Cornwall Police has prioritised a range of processes that will allow officers to be more efficient, proactive, productive and visible, providing access to up-to-date information on which to make better-informed decisions faster and improve public service and confidence.

The force says moving to a paperless environment will streamline the process and improve the quality of data submitted. The initial processes include direct crime entries, electronic witness statements and ticketing.

Devon and Cornwall Police project executive Sandy Goscomb said: “Devon and Cornwall feels that with the market place having now matured, the time is right to invest in a mobile data solution,” adding that the Pronto mobile data solution will “deliver real operational benefits for officers and an improved service to the public”.

John Lewis, COO of Airwave, said: “Pronto offers a truly digital, paperless policing solution that will increase efficiencies and transform the officer’s work on the front line. We look forward to working with Devon and Cornwall Police on applications that will drastically increase their effectiveness which has the end result of reducing yo-yo policing and ensures that more officers are out on the beat.”

The programme will be managed and delivered by Airwave’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kelvin Connect.

Eighteen months ago, Surrey Police announced that all new recruits would be issued with and trained to use only the Pronto electronic notebook to digitally capture all the information gathered on their shift, “replacing the paper pocket book”.