QPS expands mobile rollout to police prosecutors

Queensland Police has extended its successful frontline officer iPad rollout to its prosecution lawyers, giving them 180 devices and on-the-go access to evidence briefs and video conferencing.

QPS has led the charge for mobile policing in terms of scale, and was in July allocated $25 million to boost its device fleet by 5400, taking the total number of Apple iPads in the hands of the state’s officers to 8250.

The iPads run the QPS’s proprietary QLiTE application, which enables on-the-beat access to critical criminal, vehicle and CrimTrac databases.

It is soon to get new functions that will allow police to issue electronic traffic infringement notices and remotely stream CCTV from locations of interest.

The QPS annual report reveals a futher 180 devices have been handed to police prosecutors throughout the state to end their reliance on desktop PCs.

“Police prosecutors generally had little or no access to electronic QPS or other legal information at court,” the report states.

“The introduction of mobile devices to prosecutors is increasing efficiencies and paving the way for the development of many other enhancements, such as the use of electronic briefs of evidence and the ability to video link witness evidence between electronic devices and the court.”

The new capability has been rolled out in close partnership with the library services wing of the Public Safety Business Agency (PSBA).

It is looking to continue trialing new applications that can be installed on the devices, and is working with legal information firms to put together an in-house case law database tailored to the mobile platform.

Elsewhere in the QPS, a growing fleet of automatic number plate recognition units installed in police cars is also paying dividends.

The annual report reveals that just 13 devices in traffic police cars, and another ten dedicated to picking up motorcycle gang members and suspected organised crime associates, raised 204,641 alerts to police in the 2014-15 year.

These alerts led to 4221 traffic infringement notices, 867 notices to appear, and 97 cars being impounded under Queensland hoon legislation throughout the 12 month period.