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Helping to protect and serve our communities while making them safer places to live is at the heart of what we do.
Sopra Steria supports the majority of the UK’s police forces, enabling those in control rooms and on the front-line to serve nearly 40 million people across the country. STORM is the market-leading Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software and has
set the standard in emergency response management for nearly 30 years, handling over 6 million calls a year. STORM is trusted by nearly 70% of the UK’s police forces to provide unwavering reliability in critical missions and everyday operations
and is deployed internationally.
We have a long history of providing major operational systems to the public safety market which has uniquely placed us at the forefront of understanding user requirements. This allows us to provide solutions that use the best combination of technologies
to meet the business needs of our customers - ultimately helping to protect and serve communities, making them safer places to live.
Our proven track record in providing market leading solutions to the public safety sector has enabled us to develop long-standing relationships with our clients. Our partnership with Humberside Police, – seen as one of the leading forces in the
UK, spans over four years. Humberside Police are recognised as being at the forefront of innovation in policing, and together we have explored new technology and processes to deliver high quality public safety in the most efficient way. Essentially,
this has resulted in significant improvements in public trust and confidence.
The Challenge
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carries out regular assessment of police forces in England and Wales through PEEL (police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy) inspections.
PEEL inspections are a comprehensive inspection framework that allows HMICFRS to assess and determine the performance of police forces. They look at various aspects of policing to ensure they serve the community well.
The three main aspects measured are:
- Effectiveness: Inspections focus on crime reduction, response times, public safety, and community engagement.
- Efficiency: Inspections evaluate resource utilisation, cost management, process optimisation, and overall operational performance.
- Legitimacy: Inspections assess public trust, accountability, transparency, fairness, adherence to legal and ethical standards, and the handling of public complaints. .
These comprehensive evaluations help maintain and improve police services, ensuring they are effective, efficient, and trusted by the community. Most of these areas are then rated as outstanding, good, adequate, requires improvement, or inadequate.
In November 2022, Humberside Police were assessed by HMICFRS as 'Outstanding' in six areas of the PEEL inspection. However, it was identified that some improvements could be made to the time in which the force responds to calls of service that require
immediate attention.
The Approach
Following the outcome of the PEEL inspection, Humberside Police asked for our support to improve the response times. Our team of expert advisors completed an in-depth on-site review that aimed to:
- Understand the gap between the available STORM functionality and what was being used in Humberside Control Room.
- Understand STORM user behaviour which could affect efficient deployment response times.
- Observe where improvements could be made in relation to technical dependencies, functionality gaps and any culture or local practices.
Our team of consultants identified that the staff working in the Humberside Control Room were not utilising the full functionality of STORM which was impacting response times. The team worked alongside staff and identified opportunities to create more
efficient and effective use of the STORM platform.
By spending time with users and contact management leadership, we immersed ourselves in the users' daily workflows and pain points.
We then made tailored recommendations through a detailed, comprehensive action plan report which was supplied less than seven days after leaving the site. We worked collaboratively with sponsors from within the force to ensure that the language and framing
of the report generated interest and support from stakeholders across Humberside Police Force.
Within the action plan we identified quick wins highlighting their benefit potential and ease of implementation.
The Benefits
The report outlined several ‘quick wins’ that we were able to implement quickly to maximise the use and benefits of STORM and help Humberside Police become even more effective and efficient.
Our report played a key role in a wider set of workstreams Humberside Police Force had deployed to address response time concerns. As a result of this overall activity, the number of Grade 1 incidents attended within the relevant time frame increased
significantly from 42.5% (in September 2023) to 82.9% (in February 2024).
Immediate grade 1 incidents are typically categorised as where there is, or is likely to be, a danger to life, a serious threat of violence, serious damage to property or serious injury. The response time to a call of this urgency is within 15 minutes.
By optimising the use of STORM, and associated business processes, the force were able to improve response times for emergency incidents, which then led to improved public safety outcomes for those who live, work and visit Humberside.
In a time of challenging budgets, it is crucial for police forces to maximise their existing software to enhance the efficiency of their control rooms. By leveraging the full potential of STORM, forces can streamline operations, improve response times,
and ensure better resource allocation.
Chris Philpott, Assistant Chief Officer at Humberside Police said:
The positive change in relationship between the teams at Sopra Steria and Humberside Police have been a significant contributory factor in helping us to improve our response times. It has also identified other opportunities for improvement by optimising
our use of the functionality within STORM. Working together to achieve a common public safety aim is allowing us to continue our journey of outstanding service delivery.
As a result of this work the relationship between Sopra Steria and Humberside Police has strengthened. Previously, the force viewed us simply as a supplier of their software, however we are now considered a trusted key partner who can work alongside them
at the forefront of innovation and best practice.
We’re looking forward to continuing our shared commitment with Humberside Police to build trust and enhance public safety through innovative use of technology.
To learn more about Sopra Steria can support with response times contact our Public Safety team.
Explore how STORM is transforming public safety and policing.