Humberside Police – Formic provides “all in one” data capture system for ABC
“The real benefit of the Fusion system is that it provides an ‘all in one’ data capture system for ABC. It contains all you need to design, print, scan activity cards and validate the data. This year we successfully processed 98.6% of all cards issued, which is quite a remarkable feat.”
IAN FLEMING, PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT, HUMBERSIDE POLICE
With a payroll of over 3,000 police officers and civilians that together account for 82% of its £140M budget, Humberside Police was one of the first police forces to recognise the importance of Activity Analysis in understanding how effectively this resource is deployed to tackle crime.
Today, the Home Office has made the submission of Activity Based Costing (ABC) data a mandatory requirement, enabling valid comparisons on resource usage between police forces. As Activity Analysis provides the core data from which ABC is derived, the focus has now turned to the efficiency and accuracy of the data collection process.
THE NEED
Humberside Police began using Fusion software for Activity Analysis in 1996. Today the software is used to process over 10,000 activity cards from Divisions in Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Beverley and Hull.
The Performance Development Unit produces instruction booklets and trains Liaison Officers at each Division, who in turn train Sergeants in completing and checking activity cards. The activities of all multi-functional operational staff are sampled over a two week period, the minimum required by the National ABC model.
“The real benefit of the Fusion system is that it provides an “all in one” data capture system for ABC. It contains all you need to design, print, scan activity cards and validate the data. This year we successfully processed 98.6% of all cards issued, which is quite a remarkable feat” stated Ian.
Activity Based Costing (ABC) is now firmly embedded within Humberside Police culture. The data collected during Activity Analysis is merged with demand and performance statistics providing Chief Officers, Divisional Commanders and Headquarters Commanders with a comprehensive analysis that helps answer fundamental questions concerning efficiency and effectiveness.
THE SOLUTION
Ian reflects on Humberside’s long relationship with Formic “The biggest breakthrough for the police service was the collaboration with Formic in the design of the Formic v3 activity card. This design is the basis for all police forces that use OCR systems to complete their annual ABC exercise. The relationship between supplier and customer is symbiotic. Formic are receptive to customer experience and will consider making changes to their software, to the benefit of all users. We have seen the Activity Analysis software develop in this way to become a slick, user-friendly tool. Today, it even incorporates a built-in audit trail that tracks changes to data during processing – satisfying the stringent requirements of the Audit Commission. Fusion is the only software to do this.”
THE RESULT
Such has been the impact of Activity Analysis in Humberside Police that extra studies are undertaken throughout the year to test the difference made by organisational changes following Chief Officer and Divisional Commander insights.
“ABC is a recognised management tool that has enabled Humberside police officers to spend more time on front-line policing and less on unproductive tasks, such as paperwork. Our over-riding objective is to achieve higher detection rates and that has been made possible because senior commanders are now becoming very skilled resource managers.”
HAYLEY IBBERTSON, PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT, HUMBERSIDE POLICE
CUSTOMER DETAILS
Ian Fleming & Hayley Ibbertson
Performance Development Unit, Humberside Police
MAIN BENEFITS
• “All in one” data capture system for ABC
• Fast, accurate processing of activity cards
• Facilitates intimate understanding of police resource deployment
• Complies with Home Office ABC data requirements
• In-built audit trail satisfies Audit Commission’s stringent requirements
• Finds many other non-ABC applications
PDF DOWNLOAD: Humberside Police
