Officers will no longer do it by the notebook

ALAN MCEWEN CRIME REPORTER

THE police notebook is to be consigned to history in the Capital as officers are equipped with hand-held computers.

The electronic notebooks are being handed out to frontline officers this week in the first move of its kind in Scotland.

The personal data administrators - or PDAs - can be used to make vehicle accident reports and take witness statements.

It is hoped that the gadgets will slash the amount of time spent filling in paperwork and save each officer around an hour a day. Information can be downloaded straight on to a computer and stored.

Police chiefs believe the labour-saving devices - which cost around £250 each - will be the equivalent of gaining 30 new officers per year. The force has invested in 250 PDAs but every officer in Lothian could be using the new technology if it is successful.

A training programme is scheduled to run until August by which time approximately 300 officers will be trained. Traffic officers from the Road Policing Branch and community patrol officers from the west of Edinburgh will be the first to use the system.

Chief Constable Paddy Tomkins said: "I am very proud of the work that has been done and the fact Lothian and Borders Police are leading the way in terms of developing this technology and introducing innovative ways of improving our services.

"Excellent benefits are being realised by the introduction of the electronic notebooks. It is estimated that the time saved from using the PDAs equates to gaining an extra 30 officers per year or a saving of £800,000."

Inspector Norman Dixon has managed their roll-out with the force's Mobile Data Project team.

He said: "The PDAs are commercially available but a company called Kelvin Connect have designed software to meet the force's individual needs. All the forms used by officers are included which can be filled in electronically and downloaded on to a computer.

"We predict the PDAs will save one hour of time per officer per shift and that soon adds up. Officers will be given a day's training but they are already familiar with all the forms. It's just a different way of working."

Road policing officers will be able to issue fixed penalty tickets at the roadside which are sent electronically to the Central Ticket Office. This will cut the processing time for fixed-penalty tickets from one week to a few hours.

As PDAs are fully encrypted, the information on them can also be used in court.

The change-over will take place in response to the Scottish Executive's plans to reform the criminal justice system and make greater use of technology.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "We want to see more valuable police time spent on visible, frontline policing not on paperwork.

"The roll-out of the PDA system is a major step forward in harnessing new technology to make policing more efficient. It provides significant benefits to individual officers, as well as the force, wider criminal justice system, and above all to the general public.

"Most importantly, PDAs will substantially reduce the time which an officer has to spend on paperwork in the office. This will increase the amount of time which an individual officer can spend out in the community by at least one hour, per shift, per day."

The PDA is not the first change city police are making to the way they work. In January, it was announced police in the Capital were to abandon collars and ties in favour of a new United States-style uniform. Frontline officers have been kitted out all in black with a matching T-shirt and fleece.

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