SECURIZINE
Special Features
Improving
the Standard of Crime Recording
Crime data is vital to the work of the Police service, Police authorities and the Home Office, but there has always been considerable concern over the accuracy of information. In an effort to combat this issue, the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) implemented aims in 2002 to improve the overall standard of crime recording in England and Wales, promoting greater consistency between Police forces in the recording of crime. This standard requires all reports of incidents to be recorded, ensuring that forces have access to all relevant information regarding a crime in their area. It also allows an audit trail to be created.
Today
the way information is controlled within the Police environment is critical
to the success of an efficient service. Without a well-organised crime
recording process, the key priorities set out for Police from 2006 to
2009, as highlighted in Hazel Blears MP Minister of State's National Community
Safety Plan, will be almost impossible to achieve.
National Community Safety Plan 2006-2009
* To reduce overall crime by 15% by 2007-2008 (more in high crime areas)
* To bring offences to justice in line with the Government's Public Service Agreement
* To tackle serious and organised crime through improved intelligence and information sharing between partners
* To protect the country from both terrorism and domestic extremism
Essential turnaround times
One of the biggest issues of crime recording is turnaround times. It is essential that once a crime is recorded, the data is available as soon as possible. This allows new crime data to be searched on, and allows a much quicker response to crime patterns.
Traditionally, once a crime report has been completed at the scene of a crime, officers return to their stations where they, or other skilled administration staff, manually key the crime data into the crime database. This is a time-consuming, error prone and expensive process which inhibits officers from focussing on what they do best - real policing.
DRS, a world leader in the provision of automated data capture solutions, is working in partnership with a number of Police forces in reducing the need for manual data entry. Through implementing Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) technology within a force, data can be captured automatically in an accurate, efficient and effective manner. One force already using ICR technology is Nottinghamshire Police.
Reducing the administrative burden
Nottinghamshire
Police has around 44 Police Stations spread across its geographical area
where a variety of forms are returned daily - all containing critical
crime data. Nottinghamshire Police has worked with DRS in finding a solution
to reduce its data capture burden in order to deliver data fast, accurately
and securely. The force chose Intelligent Character Recognition technology
to meet its objectives of improving the standard of crime recording and
other front line applications.
ICR technology significantly reduces the administrative burden of entering crime data and helps tackle the key issue of immediacy and availability of information. In fact, it has been proven to dramatically reduce time and costs associated with data entry by up to 90%, with the added benefits of automatically cleansing and confirming data and delivering access to data much faster than other methods.
Fast, accurate data capture
Since implementing the ICR solution, Nottinghamshire Police Officers are benefiting from a reduction on the bundles of different forms previously used throughout the force, having adopted specially designed and easy to use multi-page crime forms. Now, when they return to the station, they simply scan the form using a fax machine, a scanner or a digital sender. The image of this form is then transmitted to the centralised data capture system at the force HQ. When received, the ICR software within the technology locks onto the image and identifies the form.
The
form data can include a range of styles, such as hand print and machine
printed characters, barcodes and tick-boxes. The software applies a series
of validation routines to key fields, including validation against code
tables and lists. Any fields that fail the validation routines or are
unrecognisable by the software are flagged on-screen to the centrally
trained administrators for key correction and quality control.
Any freeform areas such as notes, comments, sketches or diagrams are simply clipped as a digital image for storage within the force's main crime database.
To further streamline and assist the data capture process, some forms are available electronically. Officers can open PDF versions of forms from the force Intranet for completion and submission on-line or by using a handheld device. These forms are received and processed in an identical way to the paper based versions through the ICR technology.
Once validated, the information directly populates the force's chosen backend system, maintaining a current and representative crime database, whilst avoiding a backlog and the usual delays associated with manual data entry.
It is unlikely that bureaucracy and the issues it causes in the Police service will ever disappear, but the burden can most certainly be reduced with the implementation of an automated data capture solution such as Intelligent Character Recognition. Through introducing ICR technology into its force, Nottinghamshire Police has demonstrated increased efficiency, greater accuracy and streamlined processes associated with data collection and dissemination - which has ultimately led to improvements in standards of crime recording.
For more information about how ICR technology can improve efficiency through helping to reduce your administrative burden contact police@drs.co.uk.
Alternatively, DRS is hosting a one day conference on 22nd March in central London, surrounding the issue of reducing bureaucracy, with speakers from PFEW, HMIC and the Home Office.
Call the DRS bookings team on 01908 666088 to reserve a place.
Crime data is vital to the work of the Police service, Police authorities and the Home Office, but there has always been considerable concern over the accuracy of information. In an effort to combat this issue, the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) implemented aims in 2002 to improve the overall standard of crime recording in England and Wales, promoting greater consistency between Police forces in the recording of crime. This standard requires all reports of incidents to be recorded, ensuring that forces have access to all relevant information regarding a crime in their area. It also allows an audit trail to be created.
Today
the way information is controlled within the Police environment is critical
to the success of an efficient service. Without a well-organised crime
recording process, the key priorities set out for Police from 2006 to
2009, as highlighted in Hazel Blears MP Minister of State's National Community
Safety Plan, will be almost impossible to achieve.National Community Safety Plan 2006-2009
* To reduce overall crime by 15% by 2007-2008 (more in high crime areas)
* To bring offences to justice in line with the Government's Public Service Agreement
* To tackle serious and organised crime through improved intelligence and information sharing between partners
* To protect the country from both terrorism and domestic extremism
Essential turnaround times
One of the biggest issues of crime recording is turnaround times. It is essential that once a crime is recorded, the data is available as soon as possible. This allows new crime data to be searched on, and allows a much quicker response to crime patterns.
Traditionally, once a crime report has been completed at the scene of a crime, officers return to their stations where they, or other skilled administration staff, manually key the crime data into the crime database. This is a time-consuming, error prone and expensive process which inhibits officers from focussing on what they do best - real policing.
DRS, a world leader in the provision of automated data capture solutions, is working in partnership with a number of Police forces in reducing the need for manual data entry. Through implementing Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) technology within a force, data can be captured automatically in an accurate, efficient and effective manner. One force already using ICR technology is Nottinghamshire Police.
Reducing the administrative burden
Nottinghamshire
Police has around 44 Police Stations spread across its geographical area
where a variety of forms are returned daily - all containing critical
crime data. Nottinghamshire Police has worked with DRS in finding a solution
to reduce its data capture burden in order to deliver data fast, accurately
and securely. The force chose Intelligent Character Recognition technology
to meet its objectives of improving the standard of crime recording and
other front line applications.ICR technology significantly reduces the administrative burden of entering crime data and helps tackle the key issue of immediacy and availability of information. In fact, it has been proven to dramatically reduce time and costs associated with data entry by up to 90%, with the added benefits of automatically cleansing and confirming data and delivering access to data much faster than other methods.
Fast, accurate data capture
Since implementing the ICR solution, Nottinghamshire Police Officers are benefiting from a reduction on the bundles of different forms previously used throughout the force, having adopted specially designed and easy to use multi-page crime forms. Now, when they return to the station, they simply scan the form using a fax machine, a scanner or a digital sender. The image of this form is then transmitted to the centralised data capture system at the force HQ. When received, the ICR software within the technology locks onto the image and identifies the form.
The
form data can include a range of styles, such as hand print and machine
printed characters, barcodes and tick-boxes. The software applies a series
of validation routines to key fields, including validation against code
tables and lists. Any fields that fail the validation routines or are
unrecognisable by the software are flagged on-screen to the centrally
trained administrators for key correction and quality control.Any freeform areas such as notes, comments, sketches or diagrams are simply clipped as a digital image for storage within the force's main crime database.
To further streamline and assist the data capture process, some forms are available electronically. Officers can open PDF versions of forms from the force Intranet for completion and submission on-line or by using a handheld device. These forms are received and processed in an identical way to the paper based versions through the ICR technology.
Once validated, the information directly populates the force's chosen backend system, maintaining a current and representative crime database, whilst avoiding a backlog and the usual delays associated with manual data entry.
It is unlikely that bureaucracy and the issues it causes in the Police service will ever disappear, but the burden can most certainly be reduced with the implementation of an automated data capture solution such as Intelligent Character Recognition. Through introducing ICR technology into its force, Nottinghamshire Police has demonstrated increased efficiency, greater accuracy and streamlined processes associated with data collection and dissemination - which has ultimately led to improvements in standards of crime recording.
For more information about how ICR technology can improve efficiency through helping to reduce your administrative burden contact police@drs.co.uk.
Alternatively, DRS is hosting a one day conference on 22nd March in central London, surrounding the issue of reducing bureaucracy, with speakers from PFEW, HMIC and the Home Office.
Call the DRS bookings team on 01908 666088 to reserve a place.