Shropshire police officers to get smartphones and laptops
Police officers in the region are to be given smartphones and laptops to ensure they can spend more time on the streets.
A pilot scheme has led to officers spending up to three hours longer a day in the community.
John Campion, Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, said he wanted to see every office equipped with the technology by the end of the year. At the moment it seems officers are attached to their police station by a piece of elastic," he said.
"I want to set them free. Everyone has a smartphone these day – except police officers."
Speaking to Oswestry Town Council, Mr Campion said the pilot scheme involved 40 officers.
"I have given each officer a smartphone and a laptop so that they don't have to return to the police station during their shift," he said.
"It has led to between one to three hours of extra visibility per officer.
"We want to roll that out to the rest of the force, to the 2,000 police officers in West Mercia by the end of the year.
"I want to move quickly on this. With that one to three hours of extra visibility you should see your cops more often."
The commissioner said his initiative would work better than using money for recruitment to put more officers on the streets.
He revealed he would be spending up to £30 million of reserves as part of his £212 million budget in the coming year.
He said among his priorities was to reform the force by updating technology. He also pledged to ensure the fabric of the force's buildings were in good repair.
Mr Campion further pledged to help victims of crime, even if there was no court appearance.
"I want to help victims to enjoy life again," he said.
"In the past we have focused too much on getting people to court when we should be focussing on the victims and how we give them the right level of support." Mr Campion said cracking down on organised crime, drug dealing and child sex exploitation was 'non-negotiable' and he wanted to ensure officers were properly equipped with the right number of armed officers and those with Tasers.
He added: "Community support officers are the eyes and ears of the community. They can devote time to being visible and I want to retain them."
