Commissioner secures funding for Humberside Police to improve Digital Processes

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside, working in partnership with Humberside Police, has secured £60,000 of funding from the Home Office to allow the force to develop Robotic Process Automation.

In November the Home Office invited bids to their Police Science, Technology, Analysis and Research (STAR) Board for technical projects which will save officers and staff time and ultimately deliver a better service to the public.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enables the input of data to be shared across systems automatically. Police forces use a number of different systems to input data which often has to be manually re-keyed by staff into the different systems, causing repetitive work and taking up considerable time. RPA improves efficiency, quality of data and quality of service using specialist computer software. This innovative technology will save the force significant time and resource and reduce possible errors.

Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter said: “Last year I provided £1 million of funding to the force for Digital Innovation, to bring about changes that speed up processes and help ensure the force is providing the best service to our communities. I want Humberside Police to be at the forefront of digital technology and this extra funding will increase efficiency and free up time for officers and staff to do more productive tasks.”

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Rowley said: “Humberside Police are keen to provide the best possible service to the public, therefore by reducing the amount of time officers spend double keying information into systems it maximises the amount of time they can spend on the streets serving the public. We therefore want to deliver this project in the most efficient way possible to ensure we can be there for the public when they need us.”