Jury out on PSNI phone initiative
THE jury is out on the latest police initiative to serve the community.
The PSNI has confirmed that 14 million is to be spent on giving high spec BlackBerry mobile phones to 4,000 officers.
The BlackBerry and other similar phone devices are certainly at the cutting edge of new technology and have changed the lifestyle of many people, both from a professional and personal point of view. People are able to keep up to date with important communication tasks while on the go and no longer have to return to their home or office to use desktop technology. The mobile phones are even quicker and more versatile that many laptops.
The police say the new phones will allow officers to dedicate more time to front-line policing duties and carry out inquiries in a quicker time frame.
There will be raised eyebrows however at the cost of the new mobile phones, at a time when the PSNI are facing huge cuts and have even frozen recruitment.
It is good to see our police officers being given the sort of IT backup that they should have had years ago, although the mobile phones will have limited use in a riot or in dealing with the Saturday night drunk.
Sometimes all the technology in the world cannot replace the canny, streetwise police officer who has loads of experience.
But the provision of new mobile phones is an initiative worth pursuing, although the authorities must ensure that the technology actually delivers value for money.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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