Getting 'IT' Right
A Thematic Inspection

5. Scottish Police Information Strategy

Background

5.1 Since the late 1970s, the Scottish police service has been innovative in the development of IT in support of police operations. The introduction of crime recording systems in Tayside and Lothian and Borders, a command and control system in Strathclyde and an intelligence system in Fife using free text retrieval were all examples of early work. The development of national criminal records and fingerprinting systems at SCRO deserve particular praise for the comprehensive support which they offer to all Scottish forces.

Development of SPIS

5.2 In recent years, however, the Scottish police service has reacted to technological change by agreeing a more unified approach to IT issues. Since 1993 the Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS) has been developed and agreed by all Chief Constables as the standard approach to the development of new IT systems in Scotland. SPIS is based on a comprehensive analysis of the information needs of the Scottish police service and a corporate data model which provides an excellent framework within which to develop individual applications and common data standards which are shared by all police forces and which makes it easier to develop individual IT system to serve all forces and to share data between applications and between forces.

5.3 HM Inspector welcomes the SPIS as the right strategy for the Scottish police service and commends the work which is being done by the Scottish Office, and police forces, to press ahead with implementation. HM Inspector was conscious that the parallel system being developed by the police in England and Wales (NSPIS) had been developed in a different way to reflect the different circumstances, and different stage of IT development, of police forces in England and Wales. HM Inspector emphases the need to work in close co-operation with colleagues in England and Wales to ensure harmonisation of the two strategies so far as possible, to make it easier to deal with cross-border and series crimes, as well as to minimise the duplication of systems development and procurement effort.

5.4 HM Inspector noted that, while SPIS was based on a survey of the information needs of Scottish police forces, there was no comprehensive business strategy for the Scottish police service to guide the SPIS team and to prioritise the development of the applications which are most important in meeting the service’s business objectives. Some work is in hand to identify the main business drivers but this needs to be progressed in the near future to provide a sound basis for SPIS’s future development.

Oversight of SPIS

5.5 In order to oversee the SPIS programme in line with CCTA’s programme management methodology, ACPOS have created the IS/IT Co-ordination Committee, as a sub-committee of the Technical and Research Committee, to draw together all the strands of IT development in the service and prioritise SPIS applications development. The IS/IT Co-ordination Committee is chaired by a Chief Constable and HM Inspector welcomed the strength of oversight which the Committee will bring.

5.6 The SPIS programme of developments is a challenging and exciting one. It needs to be fully supported by all forces and central services. As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review additional funding has been identified with a view to accelerating the SPIS programme and achieving early business benefits. It is important that this money be used to drive forward developments based on sound business cases and that benefits achieved are demonstrable. This area has not been well addressed in the past and it is hoped that the structured project management processes put in place by the SPIS Director will overcome these problems in the future.

SPIS Process Models

5.7 SPIS applications are being developed through the medium of process modelling and the first application (Firearms) has provided a detailed analysis of force staffing and practices in relation to the management of firearms records. HM Inspector was interested to note that this modelling procedure provides a benchmarking process against which forces could measure their own performance. Quite significant differences were observed in relation to the firearms model and forces should find this information emerging from other process models in future.

5.8 It was with some concern however that HM Inspector noted the apparent lack of response to more recent process models (Personnel and Incident logging). The current arrangements are for lead forces to develop the process model before these are circulated for review and amendment by other forces. It is essential that every force and associated organisation plays its full part in reviewing the models to ensure they meet the justified needs of them all. Perhaps because no SPIS system has yet been completed, the importance of this essential exercise has not yet been fully appreciated in some areas. HM Inspector cannot emphasise too strongly the importance of this work being carried out thoroughly and to timescale.

Timescale

5.9 It is hoped that the main SPIS applications will be delivered to the service within a 3-5 year timescale. As yet there is little in the way of development data available and HM Inspector considers it important that the full programme be time driven to ensure targets are achieved. This may be possible once the trial application (Firearms) has been completed and lessons taken on board.

5.10 Timescales of this order require the IS/IT Co-ordinating Committee to take into account on-going developments at a commercial and technological level as the project progresses. In particular some thought should be given to the use of emerging technologies to link legacy systems to new databases as a first step towards SPIS compliance.

5.11 Back Record Conversion has traditionally been a problem during major IT implementation. HM Inspector believes that the IS/IT Co-ordinating Committee should consider this issue urgently and draw up guidelines to assist forces in their consideration of this problem.

Implementation by forces

5.12 Forces are deeply involved in the development of SPIS - both as users and because their IT departments are involved in the actual development of the applications.

5.13 During the inspection, HM Inspector became aware that some forces had taken the view that the advent of SPIS would absolve them of the responsibility for developing individual IT strategies and business plans for the introduction of SPIS Systems to forces. This is a mistaken assumption. While individual forces will no longer have to develop new applications, they will still have to decide whether (and if so when) to implement SPIS applications. Chief officers should therefore still expect to see a comprehensive business case being presented for all proposed applications. This will enable properly balanced judgements to be made in relation to affordability and best value.

5.14 The preparation of IT strategies by each force will also help to identify force IT priorities and to consider the likely business impact. Forces also need to consider a structured approach to evaluating business benefits as part of their local project management effort. These aspects are covered in greater detail earlier in this report.

5.15 HM Inspector was concerned to note the general level of under-resourcing in many force IT Departments. Even more significant however was the skills gap which the pace of IT change served to highlight. Unless forces are properly resourced to undertake SPIS developments, with the right portfolio of skills available to them, there are likely to be significant implementation problems. Similarly the central SPIS team had been understaffed since the inception of the programme and these factors posed a considerable risk to the project.

5.16 Although all forces had signed up to SPIS and were assisting, to different degrees, in the development process they had not yet begun to prepare migration plans. This is an important area, impacting as it does on existing business processes. Failure to develop a coherent migration plan will inevitably lead to duplication of effort, confusion and a diminution in achievable benefits. Migration plans should take into consideration new network and hardware architectures, back record conversion, the potential for legacy systems to be linked to modern databases and the resources available to fulfil the task.

Conclusion

5.17 Progress with SPIS is encouraging and the project management approach adopted by the Central SPIS Team represents good practice. However this discipline needs to extend down to force level and timescales need to be closely monitored. The IS/IT Co-ordinating Committee faces a number of challenges, many of which are outlined earlier in this section of the report. HM Inspector has participated in the work of the Committee and is convinced that the sound management principles already demonstrated augur well for the future of the project.