Four police forces in the North of England are collaborating in their firearms training and information by using a single IT system.
The three forces based in Yorkshire plus the Humberside force – together known as Yorkshire and the Humber – believe that the Chronicle system will enable all four forces to have real-time information about each other’s capabilities.
In a briefing issued on 1 May, Policing Yorkshire and the Humber said: “The procurement of Chronicle was deemed essential for the four forces to achieve a single regional Firearms License from the College of Policing. An interim License was issued on 1 April 2013 and will now enable further collaboration, specifically around standards, policy and training, between the four forces as well as improving professional governance of Firearms across the region.
“The four forces will now work together to maximise the opportunities that Chronicle will bring, such as sharing a common training and records system, delivering the same training to the same standards in all four forces and sharing a common deployment records system, which will allow for consistent reporting and produce more accurate data.”
Assistant Chief Constable Iain Spittal of the North Yorkshire force was appointed firearms lead for the project.
Mr Spittal said: “Having a sound database of firearms information and intelligence will enable a better understanding of the firearms threats and risks across Yorkshire and the Humber, improve the way we audit officer training and planning, and enhance our operational response. It will provide instant access to accurate capability data which, prior to Chronicle, was something we were unable to do and whilst the IT systems in place before now were sufficient for force purposes, they did not ‘talk’ to one another which made sharing firearms resources very difficult.”
Russell Osborne of JML Software, the company that developed and supplied the Chronicle system, said: “We are very pleased to be able to work with the forces and support this important collaborative project.”
He added that 75% of police forces in England and Wales now use the system to capture training and operational data for a full range of specialist disciplines.
“Chronicle provides instant access to joint capacity and capability data, providing accurate assessment of strategic threat across the region.”