Computer Weekly have reported Jos Creese, president of Socitm, as saying that George Osborne’s emergency UK budget fails to take account of the potential efficiency savings that could be realised by better use of IT. Speaking on behalf of ICT professionals in the public sector, Creese is quoted as saying, “arguably, technology is the only ‘silver bullet’ in the armoury of the new government”.
Category Archives: UK Police
Cheap shopping and lower crime – do drug dealers help the community?
Professor Neil McKeganey has written a report which suggests that the presence of drug dealing markets can have a positive impact on the surrounding community, according the The Scotsman. McKeganey apparently argues that drug dealers bring with them a substaintial influx of cash, discourage other illegal activity to reduce unwanted attention from the police and encourage a market in stolen goods, making it cheaper for local people to buy certain products.
Police and Government officials have spoken out against the report. In an interview with The Scotsman, a spokeman for ACPOS (Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland) said that the police “entirely rejects any suggestion that drug dealing has a positive effect on local communities”.
Tackling the UK’s £30bn fraud bill
Computer Weekly have reported that the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau opens this month at City of London Police. The scale of fraud in the UK is considerable, being valued at over £30bn. As well as investigating thousands of fraud reports, the NFIB will help to build a national and international picture of fraud and help educate organisations in becoming more resistant to fraud. The NFIB will also link closely with Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre.
informants pay off
The Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed last week that they have arrested 900 suspects and seized £17.4m worth of drugs, £3.5m of black market goods including contraband cigarettes, £0.5m worth of vehicles and £350k in cash as a result of informants and intelligence-led operations over the last 12 months. As reported on the UTV News website, PSNI spent £405,000 on intelligence sources last year – the latest figures show that such activity clearly delivers impressive results and demonstrates the fact that, when used carefully and intelligently, informants are an invaluable tool in the fight against crime.
UK police to face £125 million spending cuts
It has emerged following the Chancellor’s announcement yesterday that, of the £367m savings that the Home Office will be required to make, £135m will come from UK police forces. This is on top of ambitious efficiency savings that the previous government had already imposed.
Despite the announcement, the President of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales, Chief Supt Derek Barnett, has stated that police forces will “be able to implement the cuts without affecting front line services”. Whatever happens, pressure to eliminate waste and improve efficiency will be greater than ever.
Comparing US and UK Policing
Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police from 2005 to 2008, isn’t afraid of speaking his mind… A strongly worded article in the New Statesman appeared today in support of UK policing, rejecting the idea that UK policing needs to adopt a more American approach to law enforcement.
Whilst the Conservative Party, and many other politicians, have been relentlessly criticising the UK’s police forces, Blair comes out in support of the professionalism of the UK’s law enforcement agencies. Citing Chuck Wexler (Chief Executive of the US Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)), Blair argues that British police can be proud of their organisation, training and robust accountability mechanisms.
Blair concedes that US law enforcement agencies do have some benefits over the British system but, in a comment that won’t win him any friends in America, he argues that the US system is “characterised by chronic underfunding, political interference, chaotic boundaries, non-existent managerial training and poor standards”. He goes on, however, to suggest that the US law enforcement system suits America’s structure and that the FBI and many of the big state and city police forces have an excellent record in law enforcement.
Blair identifies three areas that attract UK politicians to the US policing sytem: localness, simplicity of accountability and apparent success. Whilst he accepts that Britian should be envious of the localness of US policing, he argues that simple accountability can create opportunities for corruption and instability, whilst comparison of apparent success is difficult to measure fairly.
Concluding his article, Blair suggests that UK politicians need to “let go of their fixation with officer numbers” and focus more pressing issues of support staffing and out dated accountability mechanisms.
Intelligence at the right time
Like many I have been watching the increasing debate about Police Officers having to patrol alone as opposed to being in pairs. During my service, I as a rule only patrolled alone and the general rule of thumb was on nights you were paired off. This was done for officer safety. I still live in the Force area where I was a serving police officer and this does not appear to have changed and obviously still works for this Force, however this does not mean it will work for all Forces and, going further, separate Divisions within the Forces. We have seen articles from the Times and the Daily Mail reporting on the issue and in particular how Facebook is being used to gain support for single patrolling to be looked at more closely. It is interesting how modern technology is being utilised to bring information to many, from a single data point and of course many are Police Officers who are accessing the Facebook page. Officer safety is the main concern and rightly should be, but if Intelligence can be made available to Response Officers, Neighbourhood Officers and other patrolling Officers then it can go a long way to providing them with the ability to carryout an immediate risk assessment before they knock on a door, stop a vehicle or speak to an individual in the street. The key, of course, is getting this intelligence onto a system quickly and efficiently and then making it available equally as efficiently. ABM have these systems available whether it be the ability to add information via mobile technology or Covert Policing methods, it can be collated into the single system. This means that when accessing the intelligence system it is right up to date. An important tool for any Police Officer or PCSO who may be patrolling alone.
Police IT Systems and Misuse Of Data
It has been an interesting couple of months in relation to Police IT systems being used for inappropriate purposes and the link to Police corruption. It is a harsh fact of life that there will always be a few bad apples in any barrel but recently improvements in how Police IT systems are managed and audited have vastly improved. SOCA has been tasked to look at corruption in the Police Service and of course the recent conviction of a member of the Dyfed Powys Police Staff, who was using data inappropriately has probably given this a fresh impetus. It is fair to say that on my travels within the Policing Community this is taken very seriously and frequent random audit checks are undertaken and the monitoring of users on systems is fairly intense. This activity is all the more easier as ABM systems are developed to give open visibilty through the audit process, coupled with good sound training of the system being used and dedicated system administrators, it is now a simple task to undertake.
Police working in partnership
Don Randall, Head of Security at the Bank of England, has been explaining the importance of creating a vehicle for people to communicate and identify crime concerns. During his speech at the European Serious Organised Crime Conference in London this week, he emphasised the need to join up vendors, practitioners (the police) and the public in order to help tackle serious and organised crime. He also stressed the importance of police forces working in harmony with each other rather than worrying about the balance of power and leadership between organisations. He cited Project Griffin and ‘Sister Banks’ as examples of private sector organisations working successfully with law enforcement agencies to deliver positive results in reducing the threat and impact of organised crime.
the impact of serious organised crime
Cressida Dick, Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Crime Directorate of The Metropolitan Police was saying yesterday, in her speech at the 3rd European Serious Organised Crime Conference, that UK policing needs to do a better job of explaining the impact of organised crime on normal people. She argued that the general public does not fully understand how organised crime has an impact on their lives or how they can help combat it. Most people’s perception of serious organised crime is through glamourised TV dramas – even the press do not report on the complexities of organised crime.
