Earlier this year the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee issued reports criticising the use of mobile data in UK police forces. But research by the AIMTech Research Group at Leeds University Business School questions these findings and indicates police forces have been more successful than the reports allow.

The recent reports by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee on mobile policing provide clear examples of the problems that can be faced when evaluating information technology investments. We argue that three key issues cast doubt on the validity of the conclusions of the reports: the need to fully understand the context of implementations; the need to fully understand what is and should be valued; and a clear understanding of how these should be measured.

Understand the context

In evaluating the mobile information programme by the NPIA and the use of mobile data by police forces both reports seem to indicate a limited understanding of the context. They seem to assume that mobile data use in the UK police service was driven by central government policy and by the NPIA programme and that very little occurred before the NPIA mobile information programme. The reality is rather different. Read More