How Windows 8 tablets are helping a Police Force on the beat

Last week, we published a blog post sharing some cases of how the business leaders are switching from iPad to Surface. Surface and the Windows 8 tablet family are becoming a key driver for mobility and productivity. As an extension of that post, we share today, an example of how, since April 2013, the Hampshire Police Constabulary saved the equivalent of 40 working days by using tablets, instead of writing witness statements by hand.

Don’t be surprised if you see a Police Officer in the streets with a tablet. In Hampshire, the Police Force are using the Windows 8 Lenovo Tablet 2 in their daily work. Using the tablet, reduces the time they spend on paperwork and enables the police to access useful information on the move.

“The old paper base system, wastes a lot of police time… If you have a decent digital system, all of that would be a completely seamless now, it’s going to take a few year to get that, but that’s the direction” says Damian Green MP – Policing and Justice Minister.

Check out the story in this BBC video

Hampshire is not alone in this digital transition process. In Hertfordshire, the Police Force is also involved in a trial project with the Panasonic Windows 8 Toughpad. The device allows officers to record a crime
while on the beat, thereby saving them time.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited Cheshunt in Hertfordshire on July 17th where he was shown a number of community police crime prevention initiatives, which included the Police using Panasonic’s FZ-G1 Windows 8 tablet. 

There are many possibilities for the device: officers can take a crime scene picture or use it to help identify a suspect, which empowers officers on the move.

In the Netherlands, 800 Public Prosecutors from The Dutch Public Prosecution Service are carrying Samsung ATIV SmartPC Pro tablets. The device includes Windows 8 apps for remote accessing data, connected to a knowledge management solution based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. This means, enhancing productivity anywhere.  

For instance, if a police officer called a prosecutor in the middle of the night to ask about excessive speeding fines, it could take a lot of time for the prosecutor to access that information on DPPS servers. With the Windows 8 tablet, that data is available offline and can be found in about 15 seconds.

The tablets are remotely managed using the Microsoft System Center 2012 family of system management products.

“As the operating system runs on Windows 8-certified hardware, we can securely start up the operating system with the Trusted Boot feature and protect our data using BitLocker drive encryption technology,” says Edwin Mac Gillavry (Deputy Director, Bureau of Criminal Law Studies, Dutch Public Prosecution Service).

Do you know other examples of how tablets are helping in the digital transition?

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  October 02, 2013
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