Police Paperwork – freeing London’s police officers (Local letter)

In my letter to newspapers across London this week I talk about how tech can help free up police officers from the burden of “police paperwork” and allow them to get on with the job they want to do, that of fighting crime.

Police paperwork – reducing the burden with tech

Dear Editor,

More than 3,000 officers in Surrey and Sussex are now using specialist
mobile technology to improve frontline policing and reporting. They
are replacing time-consuming paper-based work with an e-notebook.

It’s a far cry from the traditional officer’s notebook – but in
today’s world, where communication, speed and information sharing are
critical when it comes to solving crime, this revolution in how
officers operate is a welcome one.

The e-notebook provides remote, mobile access to all key policing
systems, ensuring officers can capture, reuse and validate information
on the front line while reducing back office bureaucracy and
inefficiency.

Surrey police chiefs say the system has shown significant cost and
time-saving benefits and has become a vital tool for front line
officers. It’s also suggested officers have been saved up to two hours
per shift as a result of the system, while it’s suggested the
modernisation of processes has saved Surrey Police £7 million.

So far, the deployment in Surrey brings the total number of forces
using the system to 16, which represents 33 per cent of all forces in
the UK.

While there will have to be a proper system of backing up data and in
case the system is hacked or goes down, surely it can’t before long
before all forces have adopted this ‘paperless policing’ vision;
cutting cost, time-wasting bureaucracy and, above all, helping our
police officers to do their challenging jobs more efficiently.

Yours etc

Syed Kamall

MEP for London

Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group

www.syedkamall.com