New Digital Tools Aim To Drive Police Efficiency

Policing needs to “get with the 21st century” in its use of technology, Hampshire Police Federation has said, as a new multi-million-pound centre opens that aims to use data and AI to free up officer time on the frontline.

The new Centre for Police Productivity, housed at the College of Policing, will use new digital tools to spot emerging crime trends and tactics to drive efficiency.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said she welcomed the development, but only if the new initiatives actually saved police officers’ time.

She said: “There are probably a lot of IT initiatives out there that can be used by the police. But we need to really look at: does it actually save us time? For instance we’ve recently gone across to Pronto e-notebooks, but we know it takes some officers longer to fill the forms out on Pronto than it would have taken them to fill them out on paper.

“We still have the situation where we’re putting the same information into two different computer systems that don’t talk to each other. But if there is stuff out there that is going to help, especially with reducing some of the bureaucracy, that is very welcome, because policing needs to get with the 21st century – we’re way behind with technology.”