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Sussex gets joined up
Sussex Police are in the process of rolling out a new system for Intelligence Management and Crime reporting, from Nottingham-based company ABM UK. BAPCO Journal visited Sussex Police’s headquarters in Lewes to find out more.
Both systems are part of ABM’s Information Management System, whose Intelligence module is already in use as the National Intelligence System in Scotland, and whose Crime module is installed in Nottinghamshire Police and Durham Police. Sussex Police however, is the first to use both integrated modules.
So why go down this route? Programme Manager at Sussex Police, Kate Wooller starts answering this question by referring to the Management of Police Information (MoPI) standards – part of the IMPACT Programme (Information Management Prioritisation Analysis Coordination and Tasking) – which aims to integrate the databases of forces across the country, to improve effectiveness nationally, regionally and locally.
Readers will remember that the Programme was established following Sir Michael Bichard’s inquiry into the Soham murders. His recommendations outlined the need for IT solutions to improve the management and sharing of information and intelligence by the Police Service at national and local levels.
Wooller explained that a review of Sussex Police’s old system revealed that hardware/software was not keeping up with new policing standards. “MoPI highlighted a number of requirements, including that we should be able to link people, objects, locations and events – POLE for short – and our old system could not do that.”
Using dummy data within Sussex’s testing system, BAPCO Journal was given a privileged view by Project Officer Phil Waters into the inner workings of both the Intelligence and Crime modules.
For Phil Waters, who has 18 years as a detective sergeant under his belt, the two modules are giving Sussex a real opportunity for joined-up policing. “Before, we had two systems that never talked to each other. Now, the two are connected and all information need only entered once.” An individual’s record is held only once and is used by either of the two modules, linked and accessed via one location.
The data fields in Intelligence and Crime have each been developed especially for this application and are completely bespoke for the police service.
Information in Intelligence, for example, is graded in relation to a source’s reliability. The handling description for each piece of data has been developed with in-built security checks that restrict access to the actual original source. “Previously,” recalls Waters, “we had to use a black marker pen to hide the provenance of certain information. The new system ensures only certain people have access. Once information has been ‘sanitised’, 95 per cent of users cannot see it.”
The system has also been set up to meet MoPI guidance and data protection legislation which means all information is graded to establish how long it can be retained. “Although we are allowed to keep information for long periods where justified, it must be reviewed every 10 years. Each record has a timestamp with its next review date, depending on what kind of data it is. If it is something as simple as suspect X has been seen walking down the road, then that can be deleted in 12 months’ time with the ‘auto weed’ function,” explains Waters.
At the heart of the matter is that the two databases are joined up. Clicking on the button “all links”, for example, brings up anything related to a person – whether from crime reports or intelligence reports. “It is all about keeping the intelligence in the system rather than in officers’ heads,” remarks Waters.
Click on the “tree view” button, and the system brings up the suspect/victim and associates, what crimes they have committed, crime sites, objects stolen, who the victims were – and their records too. “An officer can no longer say that they don’t have any lines of enquiry.”
Waters goes on to explain how each officer has a “role” that dictates the level of access they have to the system. A Human Resources system sends any personnel changes on a nightly basis and these prompt access updates.
Another benefit of the system is that it cuts down on probability of error. Operators entering a vehicle make and model, for example, don’t have the option of free text. Each Ford model, let’s say, is listed in a drop down format and any new models are added to the list as they appear. “We have had lots of issues with accuracy so free text is not available where possible. This will help accuracy and searching hugely,” comments Waters.
On a day-to-day basis, crime reports come in by telephone and officers leave messages for Crime system encoders, who then input the details. The system also allows crime victims to be referred for victim support, and repeat victims are given gold/silver status for follow up.
The system is user friendly and it auto-populates as much as possible. For example, an encoder typing Home Office code 44, will see the field being automatically filled with “theft of a vehicle”.
Addresses are linked to the Northgate Blue8 Gazetteer, again ensuring accuracy and saving time because addresses are populated automatically – in this case, however, there is an option for free text input as not all locations or crime sites are listed as postal addresses.
Wooller reflects that as far as the roll out goes, so far so good. “It is brand new and we are still in the bedding in stage.” Sussex is building up the database so it can realise the practical benefits that the systems are expected to bring. “We have not migrated all the data from the old systems, but in terms of Intelligence we are transferring data on serious offenders on manually, while new crime reports are coming into the new system automatically.”
Wooller says that no big surprises have come up requiring major ABM UK intervention. “However, we did highlight some process improvements which are being implemented. What we thought was happening on the ground was not always what was happening in reality.
“In the previous system there was less auditing of data, and with the advent of the new system we are focussing on ensuring we have high quality data going forward,” Waters added, “and we are seeing big improvements as staff become more familiar with the new standards.”
Once the roll out of the Crime module is complete, Wooller expects to have a good picture of how the objectives of the systems have been achieved. “We are achieving some of our objectives right now, in that we have a product that meets our technical standards, is reliable and fits with our current architecture. We did not try to set out a target number for crime detection rates, as there are a lot of variables and it is very hard to pin an increase or decrease on one thing.” However, both believe that it fits in well with the modern policing ethos of improving the quality of policing rather than just quantity. “We will be able to quickly identify a victim and an offender and deal with them. Having the Intelligence there will help enormously.”
Intelligence module has rolled out in Sussex, and the Crime module in Brighton and Hove, and Gatwick.
