One of UK’s Most Improved Services After NicheRMS Installation

West Yorkshire Police

ONE OF UK’S MOST IMPROVED SERVICES AFTER NICHE RMS INSTALLATION

West Yorkshire Police (WYP)’s jurisdiction spans approximately 2,000 square kilometers with a population of 2.1 million, including the cities of Leeds and Bradford. WYP is the fourth largest force in the UK, with 5,600 officers and 3,600 support staff. An October, 2006 report on policing by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary describes WYP as one of the most improved police services in the country.

WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE AND NICHE RMS

Niche RMS is WYP’s core operational system, supporting the management of information in relation to people, locations, vehicles and incidents, and compliant with the principal doctrines of UK policing. The system supports crime, intelligence, incidents, property, custody and case file preparation. In selecting Niche RMS, WYP made a strategic shift from Oracle to Microsoft SQL Server as its preferred database, convinced of the overall benefit of implementing a single, unified system to meet all its operational policing needs.

THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

West Yorkshire selected Niche in June 2005 to provide the service with an Association of Chiefs of Police (ACPO)- approved alternative to both NSPIS Custody and NSPIS Case Preparation. The maturity of Niche RMS enabled the service

to begin production implementation within eight months of the contract award, with no requirement for system upgrades. To facilitate early delivery of the system, the service only required Niche to make minor configuration changes. The system was rolled out west to east across the force area, one Basic Command Unit at a time, in just 18 months, reaching completion 12 months ahead of schedule.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

• System rollout commenced in eight months with no enhancements to the product required.
• System rollout completed to 5,500 officers in 18 months, 12 months ahead of schedule.
• Enabled WYP to meet the central government target dates to connect to criminal justice partners through the Criminal Justice Extranet.
• Consolidates a range of silo systems presenting operational staff with a single view of information in relation to incidents, people, vehicles, locations, businesses and property.
• WYP is making extensive use of the system’s workflow capability to support policing policy and procedure.