New computer operating system brings NSW Police Force into the 21st Century

The state’s crime fighters have received a significant boost with NSW Police Force introducing a new 21st-century computer operating system.

In 2009, NSWPF and Fujitsu Australia started work on modernising the Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) – a 15-year-old DOS type program used by more than 15,000 officers to record crime information, intelligence and legal proceedings.

Following extensive consultation with frontline police, thousands of hours of testing and successful pilots at six key sites, NSWPF has now implemented WebCOPS.

The new purpose-built system incorporates a user-friendly graphical interface and more commonly used web functionality.

WebCOPS is integrated seamlessly with other NSWPF internet-based systems and allows police to generate and view multimedia files, including offender photographs and electronic evidence.

NSWPF Deputy Commissioner (Corporate Services) Catherine Burn said the benefits of the new core operating system will be enormous.

“The old COPS served the Force well for 15 years but really was nearing the end of its life,” Deputy Commissioner Burn said.

“The text-only was not able to meet our ever-growing demands and that, along with its inability to record, store and display multimedia material, drove us to look for a new alternative,” she said.

NSW police officers currently create 1.5million events on COPS annually – taking, on average, 24 minutes per event.

“WebCOPS will improve the speed and quality of information recorded and its integration with other policing programs will negate the need for officers to log in and out of different systems, saving them time,” Deputy Commissioner Burn said.

“That will effectively mean police will spend less time behind their desks and more time out on the street.”

WebCOPS will retain the strong security and audit capability of the old COPS, ensuring NSWPF complies with its legislative requirements.

“WebCOPS has brought our core operating system into the 21st century. It is the first phase of a program of works that will continue to bring operational policing and new technology together,” Deputy Commissioner Burn said.

“We have built a solid platform which we can further enhance and integrate with our other systems, giving frontline police access to better quality information and saving crucial time.

Source : police.nsw