High-tech answer to put cops where the action is

Footslogging: Patrol officers can be directed to where they are needed most in communities like Wombwell

NEW technology is helping Dearne area police monitor exactly how much patrol time communities are getting - and to put officers where they are most needed.

The Busy Beats technology is based around GPS tracking and has been on trial with some police on the Barnsley South police neighbourhood team.

Not all officers have been using it, but since the trial began around a month ago it has logged 269 hours of officer patrol time.

That has included 40 hours spent on the streets of Wombwell, covering 324 miles, with another 65 hours in Darfield, noticing up 328 miles.

In Hoyland, 106 hours of patrols were provided, with 15 of those on foot patrol and 538 miles covered. In Jump and Elsecar, officers put in 17 patrol hours, with four of those on foot, and 174 miles covered.

The device is programmed to cover specific areas and the boundaries have been expanded to cover more streets as the trial has been rolled out.

Importantly, as well as keeping track of where police have been active, it allows senior officers to programme in hot-spot locations where they want patrol officers to focus attention.

It is hoped the technology will help managers squeeze the best value out of neighbourhood police.

Numbers of constables working in local neighbourhoods have been increasing, following a recruitment drive by the force, but they can frequently be called upon to do jobs beyond their core local work.

Recently officers working in the Barnsley South area have been called in to help patrol Barnsley’s transport interchange, due to problems with anti-social behaviour, and to provide police cover at the recent Sheffield United versus Preston football match.

They have been assisting CID colleagues in both Barnsley and Rotherham, where they helped to conduct a house search, as well as bringing a prisoner back to South Yorkshire from Manchester airport.

In the last two months police have also carried out ‘cocooning’ work, visiting neighbours of burglary victims with crime prevention advice on three occasions in Wombwell and once in Darfield. Those visits are designed to provide re-assurance and help to protect potential victims from the possibility of similar crimes.