Forensic officers to use smartphones to track evidence from crime scene to court room

With the continued advancements in technology, it’s vital that police services such as forensics management that full advantage of the resources available. That’s why were unveiling our new forensics case management solution, NPS Forensics. Harnessing 20 years case management experience, the new solution has been designed to make the collecting, processing and sharing of critical crime scene evidence easier for police officers, investigators and laboratory employees.

In the UK, 34 police forces currently use Socrates, NPS’ market leading forensic case management solution. The new cloud-based solution, capable of running on a variety of mobile devices, builds on the success of the popular Socrates application. The browser-based solution, allows crime scene examiners to capture the details of physical evidence using a new and intuitive ‘cards’ based user interface. One of the key features of the new solution provides examiners with the ability to remotely transmit marks straight into Fingerprint Bureaux, significantly reducing the time to identification.

NPS Forensics will transform the way officers record and track information and exhibits from the moment of recovery through investigation and on to a court hearing.

Steve Ainsworth, Director of Operational Safety, Northgate Public Services, comments:

“More than 70% of UK forces already use NPS technology to keep track of important crime scene evidence. We’re always looking for better ways of doing things, and so with NPS Forensics, we wanted to simplify and speed up the process of logging evidence for forensic investigations. By using mobile technology and improved automation, we can give officers everything they need to provide a clear evidence trail from the crime scene through to a trial.”

Evidence such as fibre taping, finger marks, electronic devices, or documents can be seized and documented, labelled and shared at the scene. Even when working in remote areas, without connectivity, the process can still be completed using an intelligent offline mode.

The use of Bluetooth printers allows exhibit labels to be printed at the scene, removing the need for officers to handwrite the same information on multiple forms and exhibit bags. This will speed up investigations removing the need for information to be entered manually on to a case management system when officers return to their desk.

Using intuitive dashboards, officers can easily share across agencies, and with local and national systems, which will make it easier to present vital evidence to win in court, helping the police to create safer communities.