By Simon Hall, CEO, PoliceBox
- Keep officers on the frontline – officers spend too much time on paperwork at the start, middle and end of their shift. Anything which reduces paperwork can help to keep officers where they want to be.
- Improve officer wellbeing – Technologies like “Oscar Kilo” and the “Backup Buddy offer great support to officers when they know they need it. But what about those officers who are less inclined to seek help, or are unaware they even need it? Technology can help by actively monitoring the health and wellbeing of each officer, and directing them to appropriate help when required.
- End data duplication - officers spend a lot of their time writing the same information over and over again, often into different forms (badge number, witness name, witness address etc.). The same data is also often duplicated as it moves from one database to another, or from a piece of paper to a database. With a digital process on a smartphone which connects directly to the relevant databases, the data only needs to be written once.
- Improve situational awareness – By combining technologies such as GPS tracking, fingerprint and facial recognition, live access to police databases etc. officers can be more informed. This is especially important during major incidents where a lack of up-to-date information can severely hinder officers’ abilities to gain control of the situation.
- Deploy officers more efficiently - With a GPS-enabled smartphone, officers can convey their exact location and be automatically directed to those jobs nearest to their current location. What’s more, with many control rooms and the general public quickly adopting “what3words” as a quick and easy way to communicate their location, officers can benefit by having what3words embedded in their devices too.
- Free up the radio – With a mobile app capable of receiving all the necessary information for a job via a push notification (including name, address, witness statement, prior incidents etc.) the police radio can be freed up for when real-time comms is really necessary.
- No training required – officers don’t want to be babysitting the pending influx of 20,000 new recruits. Most mobile apps can be figured out within a few minutes. Why should police technology be any different? If a police platform is as intuitive as Facebook, new recruits will be up to speed from day 1, shift 1.
- One platform for all police tasks – the ability to capture, report and gather intelligence from one portal on a smartphone means officers can conduct all tasks from just one device.
- Leave the notebook behind – by taking notes directly onto a mobile device which is already connected to the relevant police databases, officers can leave the notebook behind once and for all.
- More money for vital kit – While more money is on its way, police forces are still feeling the effects of austerity. Rolling out more efficient digital processes will allow forces to divert the savings to give officers more of the things they need.