25 Jun 2019

Police Scotland’s £21m mobile phone rollout begins

Police Scotland has begun the process of issuing approximately 10,000 of its uniformed officers with mobile devices. Officers in Dundee, Perth, Kinross and Angus will be among the first to start using them.

Officers will be able to use the devices to access a range of police systems while out on duty, removing the need to return to the police station in many cases, and allowing them to spend more time working within the community. This is enabled through Motorola Solutions’ Pronto application, which also enables them to fill in reports and removes the need for traditional paper notebooks.

The £21m Mobile Working Project is part funded by Scottish Government’s capital budget allocation and the rollout is due to be completed by spring 2020. Once issued, the devices will be enhanced over time with the addition of future policing applications, including national systems as they become available. EE won the contract for the project back in January and the handsets will be supplied by Samsung and Blackberry.

Deputy chief constable Will Kerr said: "The introduction of mobile technology is a major milestone which will positively change the operational policing approach in Scotland.