Poor Time Management is a Crime Too
Crimes are usually solved at the scene, not in the office. But information nevertheless needs to be processed and passed on. The police in the English county of Leicestershire have come up with a way of reducing bureaucracy without adversely affecting data management. The solution the Leicestershire Police deployed was the fully-rugged Toughbook 19 convertible tablet.
Paperwork is a necessary evil, even for the police, but it doesn’t always have to be bothersome and time consuming. Police in Leicestershire identified a way of making their offices mobile and providing officers access to their usual PC environment when out on the beat. In the past, officers had to return to the station in order to share information and file reports, thus wasting valuable time and increasing overtime hours. Now, mobile access via the touchscreen of the convertible Toughbook 19 notebook puts all the necessary information and more than 70 system applications at officer’s fingertips.
All the facts, wherever they go
There are 200 Toughbook 19s in use throughout Leicestershire, each equipped with 3G and GPRS. Docking stations turn the police officers’ patrol
cars into mobile offices, and even make it possible for the Toughbook computers to be mounted vertically. James Pearce, the IT analyst in charge of the system, comments: “The police officers arrive at the crime scene with all the information they need and can add new information relating to the case directly to the system whilst they are there. This is unique in England!” He estimates that approximately a third of a police officer’s time was spent in, or traveling to, the office. In other words, their efficiency could potentially be increased by around 30 percent.
Quick and easy identification in the police line-up
Choosing which model to use wasn’t much of a trial, as the convertible Toughbook
19, which serves as both a notebook and a tablet PC, stands out due to its robustness and resistance to shocks, dirt and water. It can also run for up to nine hours without needing to be recharged and features a daylight viewable display.
A case for the future
The police officers are impressed too, and Inspector Sanjiv Pattani, Mobile Information Project Manager, is already thinking ahead: “The next step could be recording witnesses’ statements then and there at the crime scene.” There are sure to be all sorts of ways in which the flow of information could be improved and police work could be made more efficient and more successful thanks to the Toughbook 19.
This story was originally written and published in 2009 by Panasonic Computer Products Europe
