Beds Police wins national I.T award!
Monday, 28 July, 2008
Bedfordshire Police has won a national IT award for its Blackberry project, which has given officers unprecedented access to electronic information that allows them to spend more time out on patrol.
The Techworld Public Sector IT Project of the Year award recognises the benefits of rolling out handheld Blackberry devices to operational officers. The technology has made a wealth of information accessible to them, including remote access to the Police National Computer, the intranet and internet, the electoral register, the Crime System for managing tasks, warrants, email and all important intelligence briefing reports.
Work on rolling out Blackberrys began in March 2007 but is on going. The force was also recently given £474,000 by the National Policing Improvement Agency for further development of the project which will enable complete roll out of the hand held devices to all officers.
Gill Webster, IT Project Manager for Bedfordshire Police said, "Obviously we are delighted with the award, but even more so with the actual success of the project. In practical terms it means that police officers and staff do not have be tied to a computer in an office but are out and about, being visible to the public and getting on with their job."
"The additional NPIA funding means we can continue to give Blackberrys and the access they provide to even more members of staff. We are now working with our scenes of crime teams so that they will be able to send their reports remotely from a crime scene and also with our Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which will go a long way to help them keep even more in touch with their communities."
