PSNI to roll out 4,000 laptops to enable officers to work ‘smarter’
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is to roll out around 4,000 laptops to officers as part of its Digital Strategy to work in “smarter and more intelligent ways”.
Chief Constable Simon Byrne said the laptops will enable officers to access systems remotely and improve how they can use information to make “better real-time decisions”.
Following a successful pilot last year, the Panasonic Rugged Toughbooks will be issued to sergeants and constables in local policing teams, neighbourhood policing teams, tactical support groups, the road policing unit and district support teams.
The PSNI said 2022 will see it working in “smarter and more intelligent ways” and embracing new ways of working will ensure it makes “good use of its precious time and delivers the best service to the public that it can”.
“One of our three key priorities is to build a ‘digital police service’,” said Mr Byrne. “We want to embrace technology to improve how officers can access information to make better, smarter real-time decisions.
“We want to speed up how we collect and capture evidence and improve our service to victims and witnesses of crime and incidents.
“The new rugged laptops will enable officers to access systems remotely while away from their station enabling them to spend more time on patrol and out working with their local community keeping people safe.
“The rugged design of the Toughbook makes it ideal for use in challenging environments and the feedback from the pilot so far has been excellent.”
Mr Byrne added: “We are committed to maintaining and investing new technology, infrastructure and projects that are key to maintaining our operational effectiveness and advancing our programme of business change.
“Digitalised policing and further investment in technology will make it easier for the public to make contact with the police wherever they are in the country and enable us to make better use of digital intelligence and evidence.”