Gloucestershire Constabulary
Gloucestershire lies at the heart of the UK, covering some 1,025 square miles. In charge of the county’s policing is Gloucestershire Constabulary. Faced with the requirements of MoPI (Management of Police Information), and seeking to identify any risks in its existing information management practices, the force sought the help of Bramble.cc to conduct a scoping study and further investigate the possibility of bringing together all information functions into one bureau.
The findings of Bramble.cc’s scoping study would form part of the business case for setting up the bureau. Gathering evidence Bramble.cc’s consultants spent several days on-site at the Gloucestershire Police HQ interviewing and meeting senior officers and staff. This provided the opportunity to gain an understanding of current practices, establish where any risks lay and identify evidence to support the business case for the information bureau.
Once this phase was complete Bramble.cc drafted its findings into a report for review by the commissioning team. The review took place via email and content was finalised by meetings. Gloucestershire Constabulary asked Bramble.cc’s consultants to present the findings at a regional MoPI meeting. This allowed other forces in the region to discuss the report and share experiences.
Findings
Information risks were currently being managed by relying on local good practice in information management. Bramble.cc recommended that implementing the MoPI guidance in full would reduce this risk by instilling best practice in a consistent, measurable and auditable way across the force. To further establish consistency in information management across the force, Bramble.cc recommended a governance framework be implemented in order to embed and enforce good practice. Bramble.cc supported the initiative for an information bureau as it would tackle the under-resourcing for records management and information management in some areas, which was causing concerns. Some immediate risks, such as storage locations at risk of flooding, were also identified.
Way forward
The findings – covering records management, compliance, governance and training – were mapped to MoPI requirements using Bramble.cc’s unique MoPI services framework. This linkage gives clear objectives for the force with respect to information management. Bramble.cc recommended that MoPI compliance should be a priority and that the force should have the necessary resourcing to ensure meeting the 2010 deadline.