London police officers will pilot handheld devices this year as part of plans for mobile access to systems such as the Police National Computer (PNC).

The Metropolitan police has 32,000 officers and represents about a quarter of the UK police service. Mobile data terminals are already being used in all Met police cars, but handheld devices have proved more challenging, according to the Met's director of information Ailsa Beaton.

'Our pilots of handhelds have been more challenging, largely because the market is centred on the executive PDA user who is typically inside, with reasonable lighting, near a battery charger and able to concentrate on the PDA rather than on the activity around them,' said Beaton.

'Whereas a police officer can be out on a shift for eight hours, far from a battery charger, where it can be dark and raining.

'There is also the question of how you manage the interaction with the public when you are using the device.'

To address these challenges, officers in selected London boroughs will be involved in a second stage of piloting later this year, says Beaton.

The devices will provide similar services to the in-car systems, including mapping facilities and access to PNC identity checks.

Other major programmes under way include the re-competition of the Met's core infrastructure outsourcing contract, consolidation of control rooms and implementation of the Airwave radio system.