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A defensive command
Taking a closer analysis of command and control systems Sungard Vivista provides a detailed explanation regarding the implementation of NSPIS Command & Control at the Ministry of Defence Police, and why they elected for the NSPIS C&C as a means to improve the business of responding to incidents and improve information management...
The National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) evolved from Home Office recognition that the UK Police Forces were implementing bespoke systems, very few of which were capable of exchanging information. The vision of Police Forces exchanging real-time information on incidents using a national C&C application was set in place when Securicor Information Systems, now SunGard Vivista, won the competitive tender to build a new C&C application for the nation in 1999.
After three years of consultation, negotiation, development and testing, NSPIS C&C was implemented into Cheshire Constabulary in 2002. The application was independently tested at Sun Microsystems to manage over 20,000 incidents an hour, with the majority of functionality responding at sub-second speeds. With successful implementations at Cheshire, Derbyshire and British Transport Police, the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) decided that this new national application was the way forward.
requirement for C&C and Airwave
The two are directly linked, both from a business perspective and a technical point of view. At the start of the project, the MDP had mobile patrols called APTs, which were used for proactive patrolling of the MoD estate. The problem for APTs and the majority of other MDP resources had been poor communications with the existing radios. Inevitably, the patrolling officers resorted to mobile phones for deployment and PNC enquiries.
The APTs were equipped with a Home Office radio set giving officers contact with the local Home Office Police Force. More often than not the Home Office force was deploying MDP resources. The business driver for the NSPIS C&C application and Airwave was to give control of MDP resources back to their divisional control room.
Looking at why the MDP selected the NSPIS C&C application, it was firstly, because, the long-term advantages of joined-up policing were too big to ignore, and the ability to exchange incident-related information with other forces was a requirement.
Secondly, the force did not have a computerised C&C system and the business required realtime information on incidents occurring at any of the major bases in the United Kingdom.
And thirdly, the NPIA at the Home Office, although not mandating NSPIS C&C to forces, has supported the product with enhancements to functionality and important interfaces to the other key NSPIS applications.
The vision of interoperability between Police Forces is now a reality using the NSPIS off-theshelf applications.
The MDP is a national force with bases stretching the length and breadth of the UK. With over 3,000 Police officers, and an additional 2,000 Agency Guarding Service personnel, the force has a large number of personnel to deploy over a very large area; tracking and supporting this resource using pencil and paper over the years has been a major challenge.
The move to NSPIS C&C was seen as a way of improving the business of responding to incidents, and providing valuable management information for the security work, which is the core activity of the Force. In addition to the security of high profile bases at Faslane, Aldermaston, Devonport, Fylingdales and Menwith Hill the Force also has to police the continuing high profile peace protests at all of these bases.
These public order events need accurate resource deployment and incident logging. The Special Escort Group has the responsibility of escorting sensitive loads throughout the UK and the progress of these loads is controlled at the central control room at Wethersfield. The MDP supports a number of customers in the field and the new C&C system together with Airwave would improve that service.
implementation
Project Contact led by Chief Inspector David Ansell was established to implement Airwave radio and replace ageing handsets. With the national radio infrastructure being rolled out by O2, the force decided to take the opportunity to implement a computerised C&C system. MDP was accepted as part of the Home Office Police C&C User Group and they benefited from the lessons learnt from previous installations.
In particular, the MDP and British Transport Police (BTP) have a similar national structure, and the Project Contact team based at the force headquarters at Wethersfield eagerly received advice from the successful BTP implementation.
The key lesson learnt for this implementation was the data collection for the location database. The C&C system is dependent on a fast gazetteer; this search engine gives the required location and any previous incidents related to that location in under a second.
However, this data has to be accurate otherwise officers may attend the wrong location with the wrong support information – which could end up with disastrous consequences. Address Point is loaded in bulk, but locations and aliases specific to the force have to be entered manually; after that the data needs to be kept up to date.
The experience from previous implementations proved invaluable: the Police Forces in the User Group could not have been more helpful to the Project Contact team. In addition to specific lessons learnt, there are a number of important generic lessons that can be transferred between forces:
• Establish senior management support for NSPIS C&C
• Plan project activities with realistic timescales
• Good communication between the project team and the supplier
• Keep your own staff informed of the progress and the proposed changes
• Work together in a pragmatic way without losing objectivity
• Review the risks to the project regularly and mitigate.
physical infrastructure
Whilst the data was being collected and loaded, the MDP technical support staff looked at the MoD network to see if C&C could be run on the restricted network that is the backbone of MoD communications. The NSPIS C&C system was designed to use a minimum of bandwidth so it was considered that there would be no issues in this area.
One of the first tasks to be undertaken by the project team was to review the 11 sites where the new hardware was to be implemented. The physical standard of the control rooms varied greatly from the purpose-built nuclear blast control room at Coulport, to the small ground floor control room at Faslane, which was hardly fit for purpose.
In addition, the Royal Military Police (RMP) and the MDP wanted to consider 2/3 joint control rooms. An issue that was to prove very difficult for the project team was the ownership of the control rooms selected for the implementation of C&C: the MDP does not own any real estate except the headquarters building at Wethersfield.
The MDP provides a service to the customer whether it be the Royal Navy at various establishments, the American Air Force, AWE at Aldmaston or other sensitive estates such as Porton Down. Private companies now run the majority of these bases and spending money on control rooms was a low priority.
training
The MDP together with SunGard Vivista developed a training suite for 12 operators in 2 classrooms. Fitted with latest smart-board technology, the training for NSPIS C&C, ICCS and Airwave is excellent.
When managing an IT project the project team may focus on the implementation of the hardware, the infrastructure and the software and leave the “soft” people issues to the end: this is a mistake as it is often the people issues that catch a project out.
Training the operators at the right time has to be finely judged: train them too early and skill-fade kicks in and they are unable to work the system when it goes live; training too late delays the project and may cost money and even worse the credibility of the project team.
Training is expensive, it needs to be done properly, and SunGard Vivista provides a comprehensive training package, which each force can tailor to its individual business requirements. The training and supporting documentation teaches the trainers how to get the best from the functionality but for end user training, the force trainers need to incorporate the specific business or policies of the force in relation to decisions to be made by control room operators.
Implementing a computerised C&C system into a green field site has its advantages and disadvantages. Any computerised system is better than pen and paper, so staff are generally willing to accept the change.
However, one of the basic disadvantages recognised by the Project Contact team was the lack of keyboard experience by the MDP officers. The training programme incorporated keyboard skills software to improve performance.
project communication
It has been recognised from other C&C implementations that the fear of change is a significant factor. The MDP were introducing new technology to the force, which inevitably would bring about change in business practices, and it was important to convey the positive aspects of the changes. A road show was undertaken with Deputy Chief Constable David Ray and the C&C project manager promoting the project, emphasising officer safety, contingency planning, and incident management functionality linked to Airwave radio, which in turn would improve the management of incidents. In addition, senior managers would be able to produce management information reports using Business Objects software.
These presentations were aimed at middle to senior management to win their support for the implementation, and also to empower them to go back to their respective customers and gain their support for this project.
For the troops, the project team spent time putting together a briefing sheet explaining the business benefits of command & control and Airwave. This was mailed to each officer and member of staff to keep them informed. It became apparent that many at the sharp end were unaware of the functionality of the C&C system, and without this would be unable to take advantage of it.
Important features for those officers are information on previous incidents at a location; the opportunity to search the database under the search templates functionality for persons or vehicles that have come to notice before; the new PNC facility; and the incident management functionality. Knowledge of the system is as important for the patrolling officers as it is for the control room operators.
summary
NSPIS C&C went live in June 2004 and has enabled MDP to significantly improve the management of incidents and resources. The browser capability has enabled widespread access to the system, comprehensive management information has improved reporting, and the system has enabled MDP to improve its overall quality of service.
