HOLMES 2 enhancements improve response times
Major improvements to the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES) 2, were announced yesterday by worldwide information technology company Unisys.
Major improvements to the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES) 2, were announced yesterday by worldwide information technology company Unisys.
The latest version of HOLMES 2 allows police forces throughout the UK to share information across multiple investigations. Tests of the enhancements have shown a 40 per cent improvement in response time when users searched across different investigations, whether within the same police force or across regional boundaries, furthering a more efficient and joined up policing approach.
Other developments include enhancements to the way in which users can search, organise and export results; providing a more intuitive experience and minimising the training needed.
A new tagging functionality also gives the user the ability to tag information related to multiple offences in an investigation.
HOLMES 2 is the investigative management system that assists police forces in the UK in investigating and managing major crime enquiries and other large scale incidents. Established in 1999 it reaches its 10th anniversary this year.
HOLMES 2 is managed by the UK National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and plays a crucial role in assisting police forces in processing the large amount of information generated by major criminal investigations, helping police identify critical information links from various different sources.
Since its launch the HOLMES system has been used in approximately half of all UK murder investigations and has been critical in resolving multi-million-pound fraud cases. It was also used by the Metropolitan Police Service, on behalf of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, to help identify British citizens involved in the 9/11 disaster.
There are now 4,300 licensed HOLMES 2 users across all police forces in the UK, with around 9,500 desktop systems configured to run HOLMES 2. In September 2008, the NPIA awarded Unisys a three-year contract extension to continue to provide support and maintenance for the HOLMES 2 system.
Jon Stoddart, Chief Constable Durham Constabulary said: Developing a secure, reliable system which our police officers trust and can use on a day-to-day basis has been a major achievement.
Our officers rely on HOLMES 2 to collate and analyse information quickly and effectively, and the new cross-force capabilities will allow us all to take a more joined-up approach to policing, which can only be a positive step towards tackling crime
Duncan Tait, vice president and managing director, Unisys UK, Middle East and Africa, said: In the many years we have been responsible for the development, management and maintenance of the HOLMES 2 system, we have worked closely with the NPIA and police forces across the country to ensure we are delivering the best possible solutions to meet their needs.
These latest enhancements to the system underline our commitment to driving improvements and innovations which provide police officers with the tools they need to solve crimes.