Scottish Government

Chapter 5 Information Management and Information Technology

5.1 Information Management

As was observed in Chapter 2, force intelligence and information strategies should reflect the need for a change of culture within the police service in Scotland and its principal partners, from that of data protection to that of appropriate data sharing. This change in culture is encouraged by a regulatory environment that includes the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Anti-Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004, section 139. Changes in policy, procedures and working practices, including data sharing protocols with partner organisations, need to reflect this.

In the widest sense, organisational plans are fed by information from a variety of sources. Joint planning with partner organisations can be best informed by aggregating data sets from the various partners involved. In a similar way effective casework concerning individuals can be made possible through sharing complete and relevant information on the victim, location and offender, and including intelligence when appropriate. Ideally this information sharing would be possible using an electronic solution. It is anticipated that the Scottish Executive Data Sharing Forum and Local Data Sharing Partnerships, together with the projected eCare plan, will, through time, evolve to meet this need.

However HMIC acknowledges that these developments may take some time to become fully operational. In the meantime for those cases involving the highest risk, alternative strategies that make the best possible use of existing discrete information systems and manual or 'workaround' sharing, need to be put in place urgently.

5.2 Scottish Police Information Strategy

As with other public agencies, the development of information and communications technology ( ICT) in the police service in Scotland over the last three decades has been challenging and difficult at times. There have been some areas where individual forces have made real progress and where the innovative development of IT applications has resulted in parts of the service being seen as leaders in the field. However, the nature of this aspect of policing and the pace of technological advancement has resulted in some new developments becoming quickly outdated. When these factors are added to the ever growing need for information sharing within the police structure and beyond, it seems obvious that arrangements for robust data sharing and common ICT platforms on which to do so should underpin future technological developments in public services.

ACPOS recognised the potential benefits of ICT integration in the mid 1990s, when the need for forces to combine their efforts on various projects was acknowledged and the Scottish Police Information Strategy ( SPIS) was developed. The Police Information Technology Organisation ( PITO) was established in England and Wales at around the same time and in similar circumstances. SPIS began as a strategic concept, but over the years grew into a funded team with the objective of delivering the strategy. This proved to be difficult, due to a range of internal and external factors.

During the period of this inspection HMIC was briefed on a new approach to business change, under the auspices of ACPOS, specifically focusing on the way ICT development is managed and integrated in the service. This represents the next stage in taking forward the original SPIS objectives and is linked in part to the imminent formation of the Scottish Police Services Authority. The Act specifies that the new Authority will have responsibility for providing police support services including data systems, IT systems and for "the development and maintenance of a strategy for the acquisition and use of IT systems by police forces".

The change management arrangements, which have been agreed between ACPOS and the Common Police Services Programme Board, are designed to integrate the work of SPIS and the eight forces under a combined ICT directorate which will become part of the SPSA from April 2008. The first phase of this work will seek to consolidate existing systems onto a common platform (convergence) and identify opportunities for joint development of applications in forces in the short to medium term. In the longer term it is envisaged that business needs and priorities will drive ICT development from a national (Scottish) perspective, thus reducing duplication and enhancing data and information sharing through the use of common systems which are fully networked.

HMIC recognises that these are still under development. It is clear however that the process of consolidating existing systems, integrating these onto a common platform, and introducing a fully functional data and information sharing arrangement will take some time. In the meantime a great deal of preparatory work is required and some interim measures are already in hand.

Much of this work will examine the fundamental relationship between ICT and core policing responsibilities. Though police forces are data-rich organisations, they can be poor in their use of information to support operational policing. This may be because of the way in which some IT systems were originally created to support management processes (e.g. recording crime and incidents) rather than the core purposes of policing (e.g. investigating crime and managing incidents). Police officers on the street sometimes feel that their relationship with IT is solely as suppliers of information - feeders of the beast. HMIC acknowledges that there will always be a need for these key intelligence gatherers to input information into police ICT systems. However, these are the frontline service providers who should also be supported by information and should not have to know where to look for it or even have to ask for it to be provided. The police service needs to aim to transform that relationship so that information is pushed out from the centre, out from the operations and control rooms and communications centres and offered to street officers to help them help the public. The development of police information and communications systems should make 'information push' a key priority for the support of frontline, core responsibilities.

In addition, HMIC believes that the current national landscape which is promoting enhanced ICT information sharing across organisations, through the GIRFEC agenda (page 18) and National Data Sharing Forum (page 15), should be incorporated into the ACPOS vision for ICT development. The genuine need for organisations to share information and intelligence in order to promote public safety and enhance service delivery can sometimes be thwarted, unintentionally or not, by difficulties in transferring information electronically. It can often be too late to rectify this once a new system is implemented, so it makes eminent sense to insist that partnership information sharing is considered at the earliest stage of any new development in police ICT.

During the inspection HMIC discovered that one medium-sized Scottish force has at least 41 different information technology systems. Undoubtedly there were, at the time, sound reasons for the proliferation of stand-alone information systems currently operating in the divisions and departments of all Scottish forces. Nonetheless, it is imperative that these are now integrated with the main force or national framework. Only then can a comprehensive search facility be sure of capturing all relevant, available information.

5.3 Management of Community Information

HMIC found structures in place for capturing community information in several local authority anti-social behaviour investigation departments. Community information is gathered from a variety of sources, such as neighbourhood wardens, local housing departments, registered social landlords, environmental wardens and environmental officers, trading standards officers, anti-social behaviour investigation teams, housing officers, education department officers including teachers, police officers and social workers.

When tasking neighbourhood wardens with gathering community information on anti-social behaviour, some local authorities use targeted patrolling matrices to ensure that they are deployed to hot spot areas. The wardens are then able to inform other partners, such as the police, if they believe urgent attention is needed.

In South Lanarkshire the wardens electronically input the community information gathered onto a standard pro-forma report. This is received by the administration team, which then produces a written report and enters the information on an electronic spreadsheet. At this point the administration team then notifies other partners, such as the police, if they think the information would be of interest to them.

The administration team distributes the report to relevant partners including the police Local Authority Liaison Officer ( LALO). The LALO then distributes this to key local police personnel such as the Divisional Senior Managers, Local Intelligence Officer and Community Officers. Both the written report and the spreadsheet are copied to the partnership analyst in the Police Divisional Intelligence Unit, who will then assess whether these should be included in their tactical assessments or problem profiles.

The Scottish Intelligence Database, as the only acknowledged over-arching repository for assessed criminal intelligence in Scotland, does not store wider community information. However it must be recognised that community information too, can be necessary to the work of police and partners. Community information can range from the occupancy of local shops and business premises, through voluntary sector services available or the opening times of doctors' surgeries, to more transient intelligence such as where the local children prefer to play football or when 'the shows' are coming to town. Some of this information, while of no interest to the police may be of significance to partners, e.g. trading standards officers would find information about someone using his dwelling house to buy and repair cars useful. Conversely some of it will clearly be useful for crime prevention or criminal intelligence. Indeed increasingly, community information or intelligence is becoming invaluable in the fight against terrorism.

The structure in place in South Lanarkshire affords the police several opportunities to assess the usefulness of an item of community information, and whether it should be regarded as criminal or community intelligence and input to the Scottish Intelligence Database. It is also the case that the usefulness of community information can change with time and information that may initially seem of no interest to the police could be regarded as useful as circumstances change. Again the structure in place in South Lanarkshire allows for this.

The Community Intelligence Unit at Tayside Police also has a structured system for managing community information and intelligence. Information from community wardens, as well as letters and e-mails from the public, are collated by the Unit administrator who assesses their value as items of intelligence. In conjunction with the Unit analyst, the information is input onto a searchable spreadsheet. From this a community impact assessment document, similar to a National Intelligence Model Tactical Assessment, is produced and distributed to strategic managers for consideration at the morning tasking meeting.

This Unit has a seconded officer from the Council Housing Department who is equipped with a laptop computer and has broadband internet access to the Housing Department database. This allows the Unit speedy access to information when investigating anti-social behaviour matters, and is viewed by HMIC as good practice.

5.4 Community Information - Electronic Applications

HMIC is aware that some local authorities have purchased, or are in the process of purchasing, computer systems for their anti-social behaviour departments which provide similar functions to police command and control systems. By their very nature these systems store community information which analysts can use when preparing products such as tactical assessments.

This capacity can be further enhanced by tasking practitioners, such as neighbourhood wardens, to seek out information to fill existing knowledge gaps. The computer applications concerned also have an effective search facility which allows searching over a number of fields: a very useful tool in the information or intelligence-led approach being undertaken by partners. HMIC views the use of such computer systems, when combined with sound procedures for processing and storing information, as good practice, as they further advance the use of information and the sharing process to the benefit of the service provider and receiver.

However, more than one manufacturer is involved in supplying these systems to local authorities in Scotland. HMIC would therefore suggest that common data standards be established, in order that systems in communities serviced by more that one local authority or in bordering local authority areas can communicate with each other. Otherwise the opportunity to share community information nationally and regionally in line with agreed protocols and authorisations will be lost.

5.5 Use of Single Points of Contact

A good deal of the information police provide to partners is of a sensitive, personal nature, and only that pertinent to the case should be disclosed or made available. To ensure that there are no inappropriate disclosures, most forces have dedicated officers in information sharing positions. These posts are usually co-located within the anti-social behaviour investigation departments of the partner body which has this responsibility. This information sharing process is normally formalised and facilitated by an agreed information sharing protocol between the agencies concerned.

HMIC found several advantages of using a single point of contact. Not least was that the post-holder becomes a trusted gatekeeper between the partners and, by gaining expertise in this very specialised field, provides more accurate and consistent disclosures. The use of a single point of contact who is co-located in the partner organisation can also result in a speedier response to information requests and, being the only one with access to the partner's system, system security and integrity can be maintained. This is especially important if the applications contain sensitive personal data such as records of criminal convictions or criminal intelligence logs.

5.6 Impact Nominal Indexing System

Whereas Scottish policing is served by a common intelligence system and database (the Scottish Intelligence Database), the 43 police forces in England and Wales still rely on separate systems. However a co-operative programme called IMPACT has been implemented, providing a means of flagging up possible intelligence connections across force boundaries in England and Wales.

The Impact Nominal Index ( INI) is an IT system produced by the IMPACT Programme in response to recommendation 2 of the Bichard Inquiry. INI was introduced to police forces in England and Wales in December 2005. In September 2006 piloting of the INI in Scotland began in Lothian and Borders Police. The INI is scheduled to go live in the remaining Scottish forces, SCRO and the SCDEA by the end of December 2006.

The INI enables users in one force to establish whether any other force providing data to the INI holds information about a particular person. The system cannot return the records themselves, but provides the user with details of a single point of contact within the 'holding' force to whom further enquiries should be directed. The INI is a list of the names and corresponding dates of birth of individuals who are named in police records; it is not limited to suspects and offenders.

In England and Wales the nominal data is extracted by individual forces from information systems supporting six high-risk business areas:

• child protection
• crime recording
• intelligence
• domestic violence
• custody
• firearms licensing (revocations and refusals)

In Scotland SCRO provides this data from the criminal history system ( CHS). The CHS has eight fields, including intelligence markers, that indicate which force or agency holds a nominal's corresponding intelligence record. The data is then passed to the Criminal Records Bureau ( CRB) in Liverpool, which processes and loads it onto the INI. An INI search can be carried out using the following fields:

• forename (mandatory)
• surname (mandatory)
• date of birth or age (mandatory)
• gender
• force
• business area
• record input date

A search using the name field will return the number of 'hits' recorded against that name across the UK. For example, a search for a fictitious John Smith born 30.7.1966 could reveal a number of hits. The criteria should then be further focused by adding to the search, for example, the areas where John Smith was known to live. A request for greater detail would then be made to the nominated single point of contact in the relevant forces. The request, and any subsequent responses, would be exchanged over the secure Criminal Justice Extranet ( CJX) e mail network using electronic pro-forma.

The Scottish Intelligence Database provides Scottish forces with an integrated intelligence system which is still the envy of other countries. The introduction of IMPACT across England and Wales at least offers forces south of the Border the ability to point to possible cross-force connections there. HMIC acknowledges the work completed to deliver the INI system across Scotland. The potential to share information and intelligence, not just in Scotland but across the UK, represents a significant step forward in capability.

5.7 ACPOS Common Performance Management Platform Project

In 2005, HMIC published 'Managing Improvement' - a report on a thematic inspection of performance management across all Scottish forces. In response to that report, the police service in Scotland has embarked on a major business change process. This is aimed at fully embracing a performance culture which will operate at national, force, local, and ultimately individual, level. A further aim is to provide the public and other major stakeholders with performance and related information which is much more comprehensive and meaningful than that published by forces at present. However, it has been recognised that a fully embedded and effective performance culture:

• must use common definitions and recording conventions across Scotland;
• needs access to accurate and timely information; and
• must endeavour to present the information in such a way that it is easily disseminated and understood.

To assist the business change process there is therefore a need to provide an IT platform across Scotland which can extract information from legacy systems, collect it into a data warehouse or similar, and provide a flexible and comprehensive user interface and reporting system. This platform would be used to provide performance management information at all levels within each force and service, and would be directly accessible to the Scottish Executive, HMIC and Audit Scotland in terms of force-level and command unit/support service information. Such technology is already available and is extensively used in the private and public sector.

To address this need the ACPOS Performance Management Business Area is driving a project to provide a common performance management platform for the police service in Scotland. The cost of this project has been estimated at £8.3 million.

To assist in funding this project an approach was made to the Scottish Executive's Efficient Government Fund. This is a £60 million challenge fund intended to stimulate a sustainable, more efficient public sector by reallocating resources for better front-line use. Its aim is partially to fund multi-partner projects which seek to deliver sustainable efficiency savings using a proven approach. It was estimated during the bid process that efficiency savings of more than £30 million by 2010 might be achieved through this project. In August 2006 it was announced that the bid had been successful in attracting an award of £5.4 million.

A dedicated project team is already in place, and it is estimated that a common IT platform will be up and running in all eight Scottish forces and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, by April 2009.

Although this project is aimed primarily at providing performance information, it will also provide easily accessible management information and information about the policing environment (e.g. demand levels, social deprivation, etc.). In addition the licences and software purchased will allow a comprehensive data warehousing structure which can then be used for other purposes. The front-end reporting tools envisaged in the bid will be flexible enough to extract, analyse and present complex information sets in a user-friendly way. The specification will also require the software to be configurable by trained staff within the service. In preparing for this common platform, forces will have to improve the quality of their data significantly.

Although the final structure and location of the data warehouses has yet to be finalised, HMIC understands that ACPOS intends to achieve this in conjunction with the ICT Directorate and that this decision will recognise the need for the information held to be shared across the police service in Scotland and with other relevant bodies.

Implementation of this technological platform will greatly assist development of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework, a collaborative approach by ACPOS, the Scottish Executive, Audit Scotland and HMIC to the creation of meaningful and useful information about police performance and the policing environment. The platform project will also support the creation and pursuit of joint performance targets with key partners and could help to streamline statistical information sharing between the police service in Scotland and partners such as the Crown Office and the National Criminal Justice Board.

5.8 Conclusion

The police service should see advancements in ICT as an opportunity to improve information sharing with partner agencies, not an excuse to prevent development. HMIC believes that the positive moves made by ACPOS towards a national ICT structure will enhance the possibilities that already exist nationally, with the development of the GIRFEC agenda and the National Data Sharing Forum. Equally, the development of the common performance management platform, supporting a new publicly available information framework, will help to demonstrate transparency and accountability, and present the opportunity to provide real evidence of improvement in policing and partnership working.