BlackBerry apps help South Yorkshire police fight crime

Apps created from Police National Computer give officers background on people or vehicles

South Yorkshire police officers are using BlackBerrys

South Yorkshire police force is reducing crime by making use of BlackBerry apps while on the beat.

The apps, called ID a Person and ID a Vehicle, give police officers an immediate history of a vehicle or person via their smartphone.

Sergeant Simon Davies, project manager at South Yorkshire Police, said the deployment of BlackBerrys across the force has allowed the force to spend more time on the street during shifts.

The force began deploying the devices among its 400-strong senior management team last year. It has now started a full-scale frontline deployment to officers on the beat and has 1,400 devices within the organisation. Davies estimates there will be 2,500 to 3,000 BlackBerry devices across the organisation when the deployment is complete.

“We’ve got this habit of ‘elasticated’ policing,” he explained. “We go back to the police station for everything that we do IT-wise. We’ve got processes that drag us back to the police station and let's be honest, they’re comfy places, they’re nice and warm and we can drink tea. But our aim is to use technology to improve visibility of officers and efficiency within the force.”

Davies explained that additional funding prompted the police force to use the BlackBerry device. The Home Office had made funds available but they had to be spent within a year.

As South Yorkshire police force had already equipped some of its senior managers with BlackBerrys at the time and had already begun a relationship with mobile operator Vodafone, it made sense to choose BlackBerrys over other devices.

The BlackBerrys offer a variety of apps such as basic email, calendar, Lotus Notes, and a corporate directory. In addition, the devices are using two apps, ID a Person and ID a Vehicle, which have been developed by an information system called the Police National Computer, run by the NPIA – the organisation behind the national police system that offers online assistance to police investigations.

The apps enable officers to perform background checks on individuals and vehicles on the BlackBerry while on the beat, rather than having to rely on police officers back at the station.

“In the past, when checking to make sure a car isn't stolen, we’d check details by asking an officer back at the station to type details into our intelligence system,” explained Davies.

Instead, the ID a Vehicle app produces a set of details, such as insurance details and serial numbers, and immediately flags up any suspicious data to the officer, rather than forcing them to wait and check via radio with the station staff.

“That’s exactly what happened last week. We did a check for a normal motoring offence, the app flagged up the car as suspicious, and lo and behold, we search the car and what do we get? A great big bag of drugs in the back. The devices can deliver those “bingo” moments.”

The ID a Person app enables background checks on individuals, and it can tell whether they have a previous criminal history or are a suspect in an investigation. It also provides a photo of the person if they have a criminal record, and officers can use this to verify the individual’s identity.

“Recently, we stopped somebody that had been disqualified. He was driving his brother’s car and gave us his brother’s details. So the policeman did all the checks in the BlackBerry, saw the photo and said: ‘That’s not you is it?’ Arrest. That person had been getting away with disqualified driving for months.”

Davies also commented on the announcement that the National Crime Agency will be set up to replace the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, and voiced his hope that the news means that police processes will be standardised.

“We have 43 police forces in the UK. My frustration is that we have 43 force s reinventing the wheel 43 times,” he said.

He gave the example of the police ‘stop and search’ processes, which are traditionally convoluted owing to the political implications and legislation around them, but again the deployment of Blackberrys has simplified the process. Processing the forms used to take five weeks but is now done almost instantly as all data is entered at the scene.