Efficiency increases for officers
With the introduction of a new mobile data application from police communications specialists HeliMedia, officers can now relieve much of the administration burden that they now have to endure.
With the introduction of a new mobile data application from police communications specialists HeliMedia, officers can now relieve much of the administration burden that they now have to endure.
The new Form Patrol application replaces forms and other paper-based processes such as stop and search or fixed penalty notices with electronic versions that run on hand-held devices, including the O2 XDA personal digital organiser. Information that is collected is easily relayed back to the forces central computer over a secure network.
Simon Hall, managing director of HeliMedia said: Not only can Form Patrol be used to reduce police time spent on paperwork, freeing up time for actual policing, but it also ensures greater accuracy in the recording of information by individual officers due to safeguards built into the system.
The introduction of the new Form Patrol system comes after extensive trials carried out last year under the Project Roman initiative that the Home Office instigated to discover ways of reducing bureaucracy across all the UKs police forces.
PA Consulting Group that produced an independent report regarding the pilot project found that: Most users felt the electronic forms made the stop and encounter process more efficient. This was by reducing the time spent completing a form through improved data accuracy and through perceived reduction in double keying once the form is submitted to a force system.
The launch of the new system comes after the Prime Minster Gordon Brown publicly stated that red tape across all police forces in the UK must be cut to improve their efficiency when delivering front-line services.
With the success of systems like Form Patrol and the continued push to digitise more of the routine task that officers carry out, more systems like this will come on stream over the next few years.
With database access from fingerprints to ANPR systems being integrated, the hand-held PDA-like device is set to become as commonplace as the police radio is today.
