That is the main finding of a report from the London Assembly, which claim ineffective and costly IT systems have weakened the force's ability to tackle crime in the city. - See more at: http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/report-heavily-criticises-met-police-it-systems

1. Report Heavily Criticises Met Police IT Systems
Crime in the capital is higher than it could be due to poorly-planned
technology investment by the Metropolitan Police.
That is the main finding of a report from the London Assembly, which
claim ineffective and costly IT systems have weakened the force's
ability to tackle crime in the city.
In addition to the out-of-date systems installed, the Met has not done
enough to embrace new technologies to help it keep communities
safe.
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2. The Smart Policing report from the assembly's Budget and
Performance Committee states that the force cannot continue spending
85 per cent of its ICT budget on maintaining these redundant
technologies given the 20 per cent reduction in spending over the next
three years.
At present, 70 per cent of the systems the Met has in place are no
longer fit for purpose and this figure will rise to 90 per cent by 2015.
While the force has recognised the scale of the issue, the committee
claims that many problems could have been dealt with better had those
in charge realised the scale of the problem sooner.

3. John Biggs AM, chair of the Budget and Performance Committee, said
that the Met needs to move with the times if it is to be an effective
organisation.
"Every other person has a smartphone in their pocket and yet the Met
are only just starting to look at rolling out similar tools. They should also
be working on predictive crime mapping, like that used in Los Angeles,
to get officers in the right place at the right time to deter criminals and
reassure the public," he stated.

4. Significant investment required
The report comes after a meeting of the assembly's Budget and
Performance Committee heard recently that Met computers can take
up to half an hour to boot up, something that was met with "shocked
laughter", according to assistant commissioner Mark Rowley.
Mr Rowley as revealed that at present, the Met uses an infrastructure
featuring over 400 systems that have been wired together over the
years, which has created several problems from an organisational point
of view.

5. He added that the language the systems are written in is so out of date
that many of those who understand it properly are close to retirement,
highlighting just how far behind the times the Met has fallen with
regards to its ICT infrastructure.
Three areas that need to be improved
The London Assembly report highlights three key areas in which the
Metropolitan Police needs to improve its current IT options.

6. These are the rolling out of smartphones and predictive crime mapping
as outlined by Mr Biggs, with the third area being the greater use of
social media networks, which offer a cheap and effective way of
communicating with communities.
In addition, the assembly is calling on the Mayor's Office for Policing
and Crime (MOPAC) to prioritise exactly how much money the force
needs to come up to speed and what the plan will be going forward.
The body added that despite being formed 18 months ago, MOPAC still
does not have a director in place with responsibility for overseeing a
new approach to IT at the Metropolitan Police.

7. Could information management help?
Being able to access information quickly and easily is a prerequisite for
those charged with protecting the public.
With this being the case, could the Met benefit from investing in online
hosting solutions such as Storetec's Freedocs software?
It provides a high-capacity, central repository where archive
documents, scans of physical documents, research data and
correspondence can be accessed with the minimum of fuss, saving
valuable time and strengthening the force's hand in the battle against
criminals.

8. The storage and transmission of data is completely safe due to the
powerful encryption software employed, so the force can rest assured
knowing that the highly-sensitive information they have in their
possession is safe from unscrupulous groups and individuals.
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" Report Heavily Criticises Met Police IT Systems. Aug 30, 2012.
Storetec.