3ami MAS to support police force efficiency drive

3ami has recently been awarded a three-year contract to provide monitoring and audit software solutions to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police forces under their joint procurement initiative.

Originally developed ten years ago for the police service by 3ami, 3ami Monitoring and Audit System (MAS) has a proven track record in the field of professional standards, providing a comprehensive monitoring solution that tracks all user activity across an organisation’s entire computer system.

Where already deployed by forces, 3ami MAS acts as a valuable tool when it comes to implementing robust systems to ensure risks arising from such issues as relationships, information disclosure, gratuities, hospitality, contracting and secondary employment of police staff are identified, monitored and managed.

In a review of police integrity published at the end of 2011 (Without Fear or Favour), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) identified that the “current economic constraints have the potential to impact on forces’ capability and capacity to address integrity issues”. The review therefore recommended “forces consider the use of specialist IT software to enhance their audit and analytical capabilities”. 3ami MAS provides this capability, and more.

Data automatically captured by 3ami MAS is now providing wider performance management information that can assist in substantially reducing overheads and driving more efficient working practices.

Tim Ellsmore, managing director of 3ami Ltd, said: “In an environment of police austerity measures, every new purchase has to demonstrate not only an ability to fulfil its required purpose but also its cost-effectiveness or better still, cost savings – 3ami delivers on all accounts. In police forces where 3ami MAS has already been deployed, the system has proved to be an invaluable tool. We are delighted to have been awarded this contract and are looking forward to working in an ongoing partnership with all three forces to ensure they are able to maximise the benefits of the software.”

With the appointment of the police and crime commissioners (PCCs), one of their key roles will be to ensure that chief officers have embedded integrity considerations in all that they do. These considerations need to be supported by effective checks and balances – checks and balances that 3ami MAS is designed to provide.

Detective Inspector Graham Smith, of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Joint Professional Standards Unit, said: “The public, rightly, should expect and receive the highest standards of policing and integrity from all police officers and staff. This system will help us in our continuing efforts to proactively track down and bring to account the very small minority of individuals who do not maintain these high standards.”