Police Scotland Prepares for Digital Revolution

Armed with £244m in capital funding and £54m in reform funding, Police Scotland are looking to join the 21st century by initiating an impressive digital revolution.

It has finally been confirmed: Scottish Police Authority has approved Police Scotland’s 10-year digital transformation plan. By giving the green light, Scottish Police Authority has endorsed a plan which will require a total of £244m in capital funding and an additional £54m in reform funding.

The costs are likely to pay off, however, as Police Scotland is expecting to make £357 in benefits over the same time period. It’s also worth mentioning that simply maintaining their outdated IT-system costs an astonishing £90m.

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Police Scotland Ready to Leave the Dark Ages?

The digital transformation plan promises to provide the Scottish police forces with “basic technology tools (...) to allow us to function at that basic level”.  And Susan Deacon, chair of the Scottish Police Authority, can reveal that the current situation is far from sustainable.

At the moment, Police Scotland has

• Nearly 200 key systems - and not all of them integrates
• Five different ways of managing a missing persons case
• Data quality issues
• Few officers have mobile phones to capture data
• Additionally, there is “no platform to take data in a digital form and store this”.

The lack of technological resources is disturbing, and Deacon also reveals that most of the tools and capabilities they are aiming to achieve in their digital transformation “are already in place and in use, in some cases for many years, across English and Welsh police forces.”

Phased Deployment

The digital transformation will be deployed in three stages:

• First phase: standardising the core operating technology
• Second phase: introducing new technology
• Third phase: optimising the technology

The first stage of the deployment will ensure that 10,000 mobile devices are handed out to police officers, enabling them to share and access information much easier. Following that, Police Scotland will likely roll out body-worn cameras, implement a new ERP system, and introduce integration platforms which can reduce the duplication of data in the system.

There’s no doubt that Police Scotland has plenty of work ahead, but the new technology will ensure that they can take their skills and services to the next level. Furthermore, Susan Deacon of the Scottish Police Authority confirms that the plans will “drive much needed strategic transformation and change which will ensure that policing in Scotland is fit for purpose and fit for the future”. 

We at Software Advisory Service are excited to see how this digital revolution will benefit Police Scotland.