Getting 'IT' Right
A Thematic Inspection

Executive Summary

1. Since the late 1970s, the Scottish police service has been at the forefront of technological developments in support of police operations. The introduction of a crime recording system in Tayside, a command and control system in Strathclyde and an intelligence system in Fife using free text retrieval were all examples. Similarly, national developments, especially through the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO), have resulted in Scotland leading the way in terms of criminal record applications and fingerprint recognition systems.

2. But recent technological change requires a more unified approach to IT solutions, and a more structured approach to programme and project management. The service has recognised this and has developed a Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS) which provides the basis for a more co-ordinated approach.

3. SPIS will provide a national strategy but it is still important that individual forces prepare their own individual IT strategies and business plans and these should be supported by comprehensive business cases for each new application. HM Inspector found that forces had inadequate links between their business needs and their IT strategies and had shortcomings in their IT strategies and annual business plans for their IT departments. These aspects need improvement. Most forces do not have the spare capacity or skills needed to carry out such work and with the advance of SPIS forces should consider any skills gaps which exist in their present IT departments.

4. The cost implications of IT projects are frequently not well defined at the outset. It is crucial therefore that properly costed option appraisals be made available to senior management before a project is given the go-ahead. Projects should be managed through a programme committee structure and there were some encouraging signs that this was beginning to happen. Project management techniques also need to be applied more widely and post implementation reviews are should be carried out so that the lessons learned are applied to future projects.

5. Suppliers’ contract terms and conditions are normally used, although there are clear advantages in forces producing their own contracts which can provide for protection against non-performance and availability and assist in the abatement of maintenance charges. Two organisations were able to demonstrate contracts of that kind which had achieved benefits.

6. The ever increasing complexity of computer systems demands careful training if users are to derive maximum benefit. There were few examples of specific IT training strategies and in some cases policy documents and operating rules for applications were absent. As a result, similar applications were being used in different ways even within individual forces and it is clear that the advent of SPIS applications will make this more pressing. In addition to developing an IT training strategy therefore, forces need to consider the early development of policy guidelines on systems use.

7. The security of police computer systems is absolutely essential. Although some work had been done to provide security guidelines to staff, little guidance has been given to technical staff about the security standards to be applied in application specification or development. Neither was there evidence of comprehensive disaster recovery plans and, even where these did exist, they remained largely untested. Forces should address these issues and develop a comprehensive security strategy which also includes a complete asset register of IT holdings, rigorously evaluated against the year 2000 problem.

8. The Scottish Police Information Strategy is an innovative development which deserves the full support it is receiving from the service. The SPIS programme will have a major impact on forces and on SCRO. Forces must consider the integration of their existing systems with SPIS. It is particularly important that SCRO’s systems are brought into compatibility with SPIS and some work is being carried out to this end. However in order for this to be fully achieved the IS/IT elements of the SCRO Development Committee and the Fingerprint Standing Committee need to be co-ordinated with the work of the IS/IT Co-ordinating Committee. This will provide a springboard for incorporating these vital services into the national strategy in the most cost effective and efficient way. The development of the Integrated Scottish Criminal Justice Information System (ISCJIS), which provides for an information flow between various criminal justice agencies, will add further complexity to the work of SCRO. So will the requirements for business continuity for the SCRO system, and the new vetting service under Part V of the Police Act 1997. All of these issues point to the need for a comprehensive review of SCRO’s IT strategy to provide a clear integration path.

9. The Police National Network has been well used by Scottish forces and has been selected as the network system for ISCJIS. A procurement exercise for PNN 2 is in hand; there will be a continuing need for a network linking all forces and the other partners in the criminal justice arena if the maximum benefit is to be gained from the development of SPIS, which will make it easier for forces to link their computer systems.

10. Detailed work is also progressing with the Public Service Radio Communications Project (PSRCP) although forces are concerned that it may be too costly and give inadequate geographic coverage. There seems little doubt however that forces will move to a digitally based radio system over the next few years and the opportunities presented by such a digital network should be considered alongside the other SPIS networking issues. The service also needs to determine a business requirement in relation to mobile data and its likely impact on SPIS developments and the network.

11. Progress with SPIS is encouraging. The service still faces a number of challenges in introducing SPIS but the Inspectorate is convinced that the sound progress already demonstrated augers well for the future of the project. Since the inspection feedback was provided to forces, HM Inspector is pleased to acknowledge the progress being made to address the issues raised in this report.