Bedford beat bobbies blag BlackBerrys

Bedfordshire Police is trialling a new scheme that will see more than 1,000 officers on the beat equipped with BlackBerry communicators.

The scheme is designed to let bobbies do their paperwork on the move, allowing them to stay on the street rather than spend time in the station.

The devices will be linked to the Police National Computer so that suspects can be checked immediately.

"An officer spends half his time at the police station, and half of that time is spent using IT systems," said Inspector Jim Hitch, project manager at Bedfordshire Police.

"Our main focus is to give them to officers on the beat so that this can be cut. Around 85 per cent of the cost of the police is manpower, and we want to use that more effectively."

The devices will be fitted with security software, using Triple Data Encryption Standard and Advanced Encryption Standard methods to encrypt data for wireless transmission, and AES encryption to protect data stored on the device.

If the unit is lost is can be locked and wiped remotely, and this has been tested in trials.

"It has been a great help to us working with the police," said Graham Baker, senior strategic account manager at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

The company has recently been awarded certification from the Communications-Electronics Security Group, the branch of Government Communications Headquarters that clears what communications systems the government can use.