Met Police Plans £200m Tech Transformation

The Metropolitan Police Service announced last week its Total Technology Strategy 2014-2017, a plan to completely update its current approach to ICT.

The strategy document claims that interaction between the Police and the public will be greatly improved by the tech investment, as the public will now be able, for instance, to report crime on mobile devices and track the progress of their report.

Over the next three years the Force says £200m will be invested in equipping frontline officers with mobile technology such as tablets and wearable tech, like body-worn cameras to capture events as they happen.

In the spring a large-scale pilot of mobility technology will be launched across Hammersmith and Fulham, the results of which will be used to inform the anticipated force-wide roll out from autumn 2014.

The news comes as several main IT contracts with the Force expire in the coming years and follows on from criticism by the London Assembly last year that its technology is so out-dated it doesn’t help the Force effectively fight crime.

“We are going to use technology to stop crime, arrest offenders or help victims. We need to keep police officers out of police stations and reduce bureaucracy. Digital policing will help us to do this,” claimed Met Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe. 

 “By taking tough decisions on the budget and the Met Police estate, we are freeing up savings to reinvest in frontline policing and technology so we can get more officers out on the beat and keep them mobile,” added London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh.

 “The public expect the police to have accurate information on-the-go, and cops deserve the best kit to help them cut crime and serve the public,” he noted. 

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