Police ICT is expensive and fragmented
The ICT systems of the British police force need to be drastically improved.
That is the opinion of the home secretary Theresa May, who told delegates at theAssociation of Chief Police Officers summer conference that change is needed.
She described the way technology contracts are supplied as 'confused, fragmented and expensive', adding that the amount the police spends on ICT is not 'good value for money'.
Indeed, some £1.2 billion every year is spent on such infrastructure, which includes 100 data centres housing more than 2,000 systems. Ms May said modern policing requires robust ICT and services, which support systems including crime mapping and criminal record databases.
She asserted that 'the current approach of each force procuring their services individually pushes up costs for all. It means that ICT suppliers have to bid for individual contracts across 43 forces'.
The home secretary's comments follow the recent launch of the new Police National Database to allow forces to access and share joint information.