26 Oct 2017

City police roll out rugged tech

The City of London Police has deployed a number of ruggedised tablets as part of its ongoing mobile working project. The devices - which have gone to 318 uniformed officers - have been supplied by Panasonic.

According to the company, the Toughpad FZ-M1s were chosen following a series of pilots with different teams from across the force. A primary aim of the roll-out to cut down on “administration and associated costs” and allow officers more time away from the station.

Speaking of the requirements of the project, sergeant McDevitt at the City of London Police said: “We needed a device that was rugged, waterproof and easy to use in daylight conditions. We also wanted the police officers to have access to their desktop when working operationally, so a Microsoft Windows operating system was important.”

“Following the roll-out, officers can spend more time in the community. It has also removed a lot of duplication of effort, with officers previously making notes at the scene and then returning to the office to key the information into the system.”

The device includes a 4G mobile connection, as well as Airwave’s Pronto product. It runs on Windows’ 10 Pro operating system.