Police want £300m for IT data overhaul

Police chiefs have asked the Home Office for £300m to develop a new information strategy including a single national database.

A common data source for police information - including details on suspects, victims, witnesses, informers, properties, dates and times, even police personnel - would allow authorised staff instant access to all information held on police systems anywhere in the country.

Existing police IT was developed regionally to fit the needs of the UK's 43 independent local forces.

But criminals don't respect force boundaries, so police intelligence can't be geographically limited either, says Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) chairman of information management Nigel Burgess.

'The database could either be virtual or all in one place, as long as when you ask it a question it interrogates all police systems nationwide to find the answer,' said Burgess.

The system would underpin a police information management strategy, called Project Valiant. The strategy recognises that effective policing relies on capturing data in a consistent way and making it available to the whole police service.

The programme has the support of local forces and has been through the Office of Government Commerce Gateway Zero review process. It is now awaiting official endorsement from Home Office ministers. The £300m funding, spread over five years, would be on top of the £250m a year already earmarked for police IT.

An integrated data system would improve public and police safety, says Superintendents' Association president Kevin Morris.

'The issue is there are gaps in our knowledge because we can't physically get the information to where we need it - bits of information don't become intelligence until the next bit clicks into place, but that could be in the next county,' he said.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'Programme Valiant is supported by the Home Office and contributes towards the need to provide a joined up criminal justice system.'