Top policeman defends "nightmare" computer system

The Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset police has defended a controversial new computer system brought in as part of an initiative to privatise backroom staff.

Frustrated officers have told the Evening Post they are wasting hours every day battling with the IBM system, implemented in November, when they should be out catching criminals.

It was introduced as part of the Southwest One, which has seen information technology, finance and much of the administration of the police force, Somerset County and Taunton Deane Borough council streamlined and centralised in Taunton.

The project is expected to save about £35 million by 2018.

Police now use the system, known as SAP, to input overtime and expenses, replacing the hand-written forms officers had used.

But the system has been described as a "nightmare", and "not fit for purpose", because there have been problems getting it to work with the constabulary's varying shift patterns and hours.

Chief Constable Colin Port said: "Of course I'm concerned that our workforce are not doing what I want them to do, and that's being out on the streets protecting the public. Yes, this is a new system. Yes, there have been problems. But we're sorting those problems.

"Even with our old system we got mistakes in terms of salaries.

"Because this is a new system, because people are still getting used to it, there have been problems."

Mr Port said there have been daily meetings trying to rectify any difficulties and he is confident his officers will get used to using the system.

"I think it was the right system," he said. "It took us seven years to develop an intelligence system, it took us nine years to develop a crime system and what we've got is something off the shelf that's actually implemented now, not something we have had to design ourselves."

But since the Post first reported the problems with SAP last month, a former Bristol-based administration worker has also contacted us, raising her doubts.

In an email, she wrote: "From the very first, officers up to inspector level queried what impact this would have on them, i.e. spending even more time at a computer.

"The system is very user UNfriendly. It takes nearly eight minutes to complete one entry."

She said looking up different codes for different jobs is both time-consuming and can lead to mistakes.

She also said the system – the contract for which is costing £35m – automatically shuts down if processes are not completed quickly enough, wasting yet more time.

"The whole point of Southwest One taking over the 'back office' was to save money for the organisations by outsourcing," she added.

"Because of the nature of policing – to prevent crime and catch wrongdoers – they need to be out on the streets, not having another layer of administrative task allocated to them."

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