New GPS technology will be a “small but significant change” for policing in Lichfield and Burntwood, according to Staffordshire’s Crime Commissioner.
Matthew Ellis has signed off the deal for all force cars to be equipped with new kit in a bid to get them to incidents quicker than before.
The technology will allow police control rooms to see where all vehicles are and what skills the individual drivers have in order to ensure the right cars are sent out.
And he believes the time saved will make the move a worthwhile one.
“Getting officers visible and out and about in communities doing frontline policing is the heart of my five year strategy to reduce crime and help communities to feel safer as well as being safer,” the Commissioner said.
“This is a small but significant change and goes some way towards my plans to provide the right tools for officers to free up thousands of extra hours a week for local policing,
“As budgets shrink, I’m confident that by spending better we can achieve more. If nothing changes in Staffordshire the reduced funding will mean poorer services in the future. But things here are changing to provide better value for money, more targeted and more effective ways of delivering what’s needed.”
Staffordshire Police’s Chief Constable Mike Cunningham explained how the new investment will pull together a variety of information.
“The equipment will increase officer safety and the ability of the control rooms to send assistance,” he said. “However, in addition to the vehicle equipment, the new equipment will make use of GPS signals from hand-held radios, joining this information with the new data from vehicles to give the control rooms and commanders the best possible real-time picture of police resources.”
