Surrey wins award for vision and innovation

Pioneering work to increase the effectiveness of the 999 emergency call system has brought international recognition for Surrey Police with an ‘ICON’ award from global software supplier Intergraph Corporation.
The award, for partnership and innovation, recognises the work Surrey Police has done in developing its I/CAD (intergraph computer aided despatch) system, which has already resulted in £150,000 efficiency savings and a significant reduction in the number of calls per crime reported since innovative ways of using the software were introduced last year.
Surrey Police was one of just six winners across the globe to receive an ICON award, which recognises ‘visionary companies and organisations’ using Intergraph’s software.
Superintendent Sue Lampard, head of operational support communications, explained: “It has enabled us to integrate our call handling and crime recording systems, saving the force money and improving performance. More efficient call handling, for example, has led to a year-on-year drop in the number of crime calls of nearly 20 per cent compared to the level of crime reported.
“It also means we can make the information that comes into our systems at the rate of up to 36,000 calls a month available to officers at a local level, helping them to see what the main problems and concerns are on their neighbourhood beat and to work with partner organisations and communities to deal with those issues.”