INI Database officially launched by Hazel Blears

he IMPACT Nominal Index (INI) database went live in December and received its official launch last week when Home Office Minister Hazel Blears saw a live demonstration of the system in action.

The INI is the first system to be delivered by the IMPACT Programme, set up to implement a number of the recommendations in Sir Michael Bichard’s report following the murders of Soham schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.

The system allows officers to establish, in seconds, whether any police force anywhere else in the country holds relevant information on someone they are investigating.

Previously, this information would not have been visible outside the force holding the record.

INI is being successfully used by police forces in England and Wales and has already proved to be invaluable since it went live in December. It has already thrown up a number of new leads in ongoing investigations.

For instance, a check on the INI by police hunting for a dangerous armed robber wanted by officers since 2004 provided vital new lines of enquiry.

In another case a person alleged to have committed an indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl was linked by the INI to an identical case in another force.

One force carried out an INI check on a man acquitted of assaulting his girlfriend’s eight-year-old daughter to see if he appeared likely to present a continuing risk. The system showed that the man had been linked to identical incidents in five other forces.

Hazel Blears said: “The ability to share information across police force boundaries is the key to effective policing at the national level.

“The INI is the first step in our plans to provide a national information sharing capability which will prevent criminals from escaping detection simply by crossing force boundaries. This will increase public protection and help create safer communities.”

Child Abuse Investigation Units (CAIU) in all 43 police forces in England and Wales have access to the INI database. It is now undergoing evaluation before being rolled out more widely, for use in child protection work and in other criminal enquiries.

Developed by the IMPACT Programme which exists to deliver improvements in the management and sharing of police operational information, the INI will tell them the operator which other forces hold any information on a person they are investigating. The investigating officer can then call for the record from the force holding it.

INI works using information which every force in England and Wales sends to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) – a list of names and dates of birth of people they hold on local force records for use in CRB vetting checks. The INI accesses this information and makes it available to police forces in a form they can use in their enquiries.

The INI was delivered in partnership with Cable and Wireless plc., working with Enline plc. Martin Goodman, Director of Public Sector at Cable & Wireless, said: “This represents another vital step forward in the mission to apply technology in an effective way to deliver valuable and cost efficient joined up services. We’re delighted to be part of such an important project and are looking forward to expanding the service and enriching the functionality over the coming months.”

Richard Mardling, Strategic Business Director for Enline said: “INI is a perfect example of how serious the issue of managing user identities can be, so we are delighted to have contributed to the successful launch of the first element of the IMPACT Programme.”