Runnymede Inspector Roger Nield and his team have extensively field tested the app and are delighted with results
This morning I attended the launch of a fantastic new mobile phone application that has been developed by @Multizone in close consultation with Surrey Police.
Following a successful trial by police staff and officers in Runnymede , the app is now available for free public download from the Apple iPhone App Store and will soon be available for the Google Android market and BlackBerry. It can currently only be used in the pilot area but it is hoped to eventually have a countywide rollout.
It is supported by the Home Office which has appointed Surrey Police as a trailblazer force to develop and work on innovative ways to deliver even greater transparency locally as the next stage in the development of Police.uk the national crime mapping website which gives the public information about street-level crime and anti-social behaviour.
Policing and Criminal Justice Minister Nick Herbert said: “Surrey s work is a significant milestone in our drive for even greater transparency across policing and the wider criminal justice system”.
Support has also come from the private sector with Vodafone and a leading global technology company Huawei providing mobile phones for the trial.
Surrey Police Chief Superintendent Gavin Stephens said: This is a very exciting day as Surrey Police becomes a pioneer in the use of mobile phone applications for policing in the UK . This app will enable users to engage directly with their local neighbourhood policing teams.
We are known as an innovative Force and this new app demonstrates how we can utilise new technology and the constantly expanding, increasingly important, world of social media to help us meet both the demands of modern day policing and the demands of the public.
It has been on trial since March and we have received extremely good feedback from enthusiastic followers who have eagerly watched our progress via the regular Twitter feed.
Members of the public, who are ever busier and more mobile, use our services differently now and at a time of stretched police budgets, this application offers a simple and cost effective way of helping us engage with them.
Angus Fox, Director at Multizone commented: This app will provide valuable data to the public as comparisons can be drawn by ward area, with breakdown of intervention activities against borough crime statistics. A visualisation engine shows local police activity clustered on the map. We also added the ability to openly rate the local priorities set by Surrey Police or suggest alternatives. The comments and ratings are displayed openly via Twitter, the real time network for public activity streams.
This short video blog by Surrey Police Chief Superintendent Gavin Stephens gives a good idea of the look and feel of the app.
You can see the mobile phone app in action at the @RunnymedeBeat feed page.
This innovation will lead the way with community policing and I can’t wait for it to be delivered to Surrey Heath.
