NSPIS Custody and Case Preparation go live

NSPIS Custody and NSPIS Case Preparation are now live in forces across the East of England.

The software applications allow forces to electronically capture accurate case information whilst meeting the requirements of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. The system also allows the information to be shared with other criminal justice agencies.

In Suffolk, NSPIS Case Preparation went live for the first time at the end of September. Lowestoft was the first criminal justice unit in Suffolk Constabulary to adopt the systems and roll out is now ongoing across the force. Norfolk Constabulary also recently went live with NSPIS Custody. Finally, Essex Police is now fully engaged in rolling out the system having taken versions of both systems as early as October 2003.

The systems also had what could only be called field trials at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Avon and Somerset police used the system initially during the 2004 event, but since then the system has been rolled out across the force. Sergeant Gary Wilsher said “The interface operated without incident. One particular benefit of the Case Preparation application was the ease with which any overflow could be re-routed. As you can imagine, the weekend’s business produces quite a demand on the resources of the ASU. By using the application, any surplus requests for upgraded files could be redirected to neighbouring Case Preparation sites without the need for copying or post runs. They were immediately able to work on scanned electronic files. Actions and tasks were tracked and auditable.”