Recommendation 1
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police considers developing and issuing a forcewide communication or bulletin in order to highlight the practical uses of this piece of equipment.
When responding to the initial report, an officer reviewed a large number of messages exchanged between the deceased and his partner. These messages were summarised and interpreted by the officer, who in turn reported his interpretation to the duty officer. The officer did not share the actual messages with the duty officer. The officer was in possession of a mobile data terminal, which could have been used to capture images of the messages and upload them for review by the duty officer when making decisions on the level of risk.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Addressed to: Surrey Police
Linked bodies:
Surrey Police
Accepted
Force response
Accepted action:
Having reviewed the recommendations and discussed them with relevant departments it is my belief that in this case these are individual learning points, rather than an organisational learning points. I believe this is supported by a different officer subsequently using the photo functionality of their MDT to obtain images of the messages.
With that said, I accept the principle of ensuring that Surrey Police makes best practical use of the technology available to frontline officers with the goal of ensuring the right information is available to support decision making. It is my belief that Surrey Police has a number of things in place to ensure that officers have access to information which helps them make that best use of technology.
Surrey Police has a Joint Mobile Data Team (joint with Sussex Police) responsible for promotion and enhancement of Mobile devices and software. This team runs regular Skills Workshops across both forces areas, with a particular focus on practical tips and shared learning.
That team manages a network of ‘MDT Super Users’. Generally each operational team has a dedicated Super User within, or one readily available to them. This network is used to promote developments in mobile policing tools, together with new ways to use software and devices.
Furthermore, the Joint Mobile Data Team has been used to target operational teams with bespoke ‘upskilling’ in the form of crewing with staff and demonstrating, in operational situations, how the devices can be most effectively utilised.
The use of operationally experienced officers within this team is important as it brings real life practicalities to the inputs they’re giving.
I believe this overall ‘continuous improvement’ approach covers the desired outcome from this Recommendation and is most effective in terms of long term learning and improvement than if we were to issue individual communications bulletins.