- IoM signs up five year contract for policing platform
- Biggest investment in policing IT for a decade by the island
The Isle of Man Constabulary has signed a five year contract to use Northgate Public Services' CONNECT, becoming the 13th force to sign up to the revolutionary policing platform.
Due to go live on the island in 2017, the purchase is the constabulary's largest investment in technology in over a decade, and radically improves efficiency across front line and back office staff, modernising processes and removing outdated paper-based approaches while freeing up officers from bureaucracy.
Chief Constable Gary Roberts said: 'A safe island requires a modern, digitally-enabled police force. Having information at our fingertips when and where we need it will enable officers to spend as much time as possible in the communities we serve. The service enjoyed by the public will improve as a result.'
He added: 'While recorded crime has fallen to its lowest level for 45 years, the challenges facing the Constabulary are growing in scale and complexity. The Island is no longer insulated from an ever more connected global society and officers must be equipped to deal with modern demands and sophisticated criminals. Our vision is to use technology to predict, respond to and ultimately to prevent crime.'
Ian Blackhurst, Executive Director at Northgate Public Services, said: "Our CONNECT platform makes vital information available when and where it's needed, cutting down on data entry and time-consuming searches. The Isle of Man Constabulary needed a robust, out of the box solution that could liberate their officers from unnecessary red tape and contribute to safer communities and we're delighted to be supporting their vision for digitally-enabled policing."
The constabulary is taking on four of the platform's key components, CONNECT: Investigation, Intelligence, Case and Custody. These will be tailored to match the specific requirements of the Isle of Man, which varies from the UK and therefore requires different permissions and configurations.
News of the contract comes just days after Lancashire Constabulary became the first force to go live with the stand alone version of CONNECT. Around a quarter of the forces in England and Wales have now signed up for CONNECT.
The CONNECT platform will help the Manx force:
- Future-proof the police in an increasingly globalised and digitised world where new threats emerge daily;
- Modernise police processes in line with proven best practice, including the removal of severely outdated paper based processes;
- Ease compliance with the Management Of Police Information (MOPI) rules;
- Improve the Isle of Man's position in the UK policing family facilitating easier future support for the Police National Database (PND);
- Deliver operational and administrative efficiencies through the use of an effective core police system;
- Free up resource from repetitive administration tasks so they can perform more frontline policing functions;
- Realise the value of intelligence by storing, accessing and using digital data in an effective manner;
- Deliver meaningful mobile working for officers.