Police Officers in Cheshire have been issued with tablets in a bid to keep officers on the streets whilst enabling them to work more efficiently.
Microsoft Surface 3 tablet have now been fully rolled out to 1,675 officers across the force at a cost of £3.4m over a three year period from 2016 to 2019. This figure includes the purchase of the tablets as well as all the staffing costs and on-going technological and security updates.
A police spokesperson said "This expenditure will deliver improved efficiency in the way officers and staff work and will also deliver cashable savings.
"The £3.4m cost will also be offset by savings in time and efficiency across the force, and will enable further efficiencies to be realised in the next 18 months.
"These efficiencies will help keep the public safe as the new tablets will maximise the time officers are able to spend in the communities across Cheshire."
The completion of the tablet roll-out is part of the Digital Policing Programme and those who have received the devices include: Response Officers, Beat Officers, CID Officers, PCSOs, Inspectors up to the Chief Constable and specialist units in HQ.
Key aims of the project are to make policing more effective and further protect the safety of communities across Cheshire.
The tablets enable officers to capture digital evidence and upload statements without having to head back to the station which helps to speed up investigations and improve the quality of evidence gathered whilst helping officers do more with their time and spend more time working out in communities.
Supt Matt Welsted, who is leading the Digital Policing Programme, said: "The roll out of Windows 10 tablets will underpin our position as an outstanding police force.
"Officers can now spend more time out on the streets whilst also doing some of the many other tasks required of them.
"The digital world is a tremendously fast-moving area, but the move to Windows 10 tablets puts us in a great place both now and in the future."
Commenting on the roll out Police & Crime Commissioner David Keane added: "The full roll out of the tablets is a positive step in ensuring we have a police service fit for the future and illustrates investment in technology that supports our officers in the community.
"The tablets will support the efficiency and effectiveness of our police service and I will be monitoring how our investment in new ways of working is allowing officers to spend more time in, and connect to our local communities."
PC Pete Cole, the Business Ambassador who has been leading the project, said: "The feedback we are getting to the tablets is hugely positive.
"There are lots of stories being fed back about how much time officers are saving and how they are able to work in different locations and gain instant access to important information right when and where they need it."
Comments
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Just doing a bit of maths here and I'm getting £2029 per unit. I'm not sure Microsoft sell one anywhere near that price.
There is no 'staffing cost' if they are to be handed out to existing staff. All the machines will carry either a 1 or 3 year maintenance warranty (depending on negotiation) so even allowing for updating soft wear etc the maintenance is minimal
For a contract of this quantity one would expect a REALLy great deal.
Can someone at Cheshire Police break down this cost please because it looks like they paid way way over the top (with taxpayers' money).
Perhaps when Cheshire Police give us the figures I will be proved hopelessly wrong.
Please don't give us some lame story why theses figures cannot be quoted or we shall fern the worst)
Well Mr Barlow thank you for your enquiry.
Of course, on the face of it, £2029 per unit DOES seem expensive. However, this is not simply the cost of the hand-held mobile tablets.
Firstly these (the tablets) are public assets with a value of £350 per unit. As such they have to be protected against the rigours of day-to-day Police work, we do this by providing fire-proof / bomb-proof / waterproof protective cases at a cost of £360 per unit. Then there is the shatterproof stylus which protects against repetitive strain injury - these are £15 each.
The dangers of glare-related injuries are (of course) well documented and so, before we are able to send 1675 Officers into the field we have to embark on extensive risk assessments covering a range of user applications over different periods of varying degrees of lighting - both in and outdoors. Cheshire Police retain the services of a specialised Risk Analysis Contractor and the full and comprehensive report was provided at a mean cost of £345 per unit. The required photochromic screens were provided at a cost of £175 per unit.
Obviously our Officers will require training - as they would with any other piece of new apparatus and each Officer will attend a 2 day non-residential course with the software provider at a cost of £359 per man / unit. Refreshments during the course will cost an additional £35 per man / unit and we are allowing a mean average £45 to cover cost of travel to/from.
Obviously the units don't power themselves and the internal batteries will require daily recharging from a mains supply and so we have factored in a cost of £45 per unit for this.
As you will appreciate, the units will access and store a vast amount of highly sensitive information and so we have necessarily had to build in the cost of de-commissioning and "end of life" disposal, this adds £195 per unit.
Finally, as these units will be used by Officers "in the field" we took the view that we potentially have 1675 mobile "billboards" able to reach out and engage with stake-holders across all areas of the borough and so we have taken the opportunity to have them branded with the Council emblem and slogan...."Cheshire East:To Swerve & Deflect!" We managed to get all the design and art work done for a knock-down...(er, hang on a sec)........£105 per unit.
And so there you have it Mr Barlow - life is never quite as simple as we might perhaps hope, particularly when required to deal with the myriad challenges presented by a diverse and burgeoning local population.
Yours,
Cheshire East
(Partners in Crime!)