Photos: BlackBerrys on the beat

Crime fighters get a mobile boost

Half of all the UK police forces now carry BlackBerry smart phones when on the beat, as seen here. This reduces the amount of time spent in the station processing paperwork and increases their visibility.

Mobile applications for shift briefing, crime tasking and intelligence reporting currently allow officers to access up-to-date intelligence in real-time, quickly identify suspects and update back-end systems directly.

Photo credit: Bedfordshire Police

Bedfordshire Police, seen here, has 1,014 officers currently using BlackBerrys, with plans to roll out a further 136 in the near future.

The BlackBerrys can be used to access critical systems and applications while on the beat, including remote access to the Police National Computer, crime management system, intelligence database, warrants, Police National Legal Database and its custom-built briefings application.

Photo credit: Bedfordshire Police

West Yorkshire Police, pictured here, is another force which uses the BlackBerry, with the force estimating its use has resulted in £8.8m in efficiency savings and saved 145-hours per front-line officer per year.

Meanwhile BlackBerrys have enabled Bedfordshire Police to improve the effectiveness of its force, allowing officers to be more self-sufficient when away from the station and increasing officer presence on the streets of Bedfordshire.

Photo credit: West Yorkshire Police