Yorkshire & the Humber Scientific Support, set up to share CSI resources in the region, will soon be operating a new command and control system
The four biggest police forces in Yorkshire and Humberside - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside - are to work together to deliver a more co-ordinated crime scene investigation (CSI) service based on Sopra Steria's STORM system.The deal is claimed to be the first of its kind in the country.
The system is an emergency services command and control system for the recording and management of incidents, claimed to be a 24 hour a day service able to receive, manage and report on incidents.
The partners say that’s the best way to ensure “the appropriate resource is deployed to a crime scene”, with the new service being managed out of one central command centre in Wakefield (West Yorkshire).
“By managing and controlling all of our teams from one central location, it will ensure that we are placing our people in the right place at the right time,” said head of operations for Yorkshire & the Humber Scientific Support Services, John Gilbody.
“This will allow us to maximise our use of resources and improve the quality of our CSI services.”
Commenting on the deal, Kevin McDade, head of emergency services at Sopra Steria, added that, “Yorkshire & the Humber Scientific Support is leading the way when it comes to deploying digital technologies. Now the Regional Scientific Support Service will be able to work more efficiently with the forces in the Yorkshire and Humber region to effectively investigate crime scenes.
“This is the first collaborative support operation in the UK and is a powerful example of the benefits of sharing resources.”
The STORM implementation project began in August, with the Wakefield centre set to open for business next April.
Last month the South Yorkshire and Humberside forces set up a shard service with Sopra Steria for multi-channel customer contact and resource management.
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