INI makes real IMPACT

The Impact Nominal Index (INI) was the first product to be delivered by the IMPACT programme which was designed to provide the Police Force with a national system to support police intelligence. It seems that it is achieving this goal as recent research has shown that information uncovered through the INI is improving the quality of police decision making and helping both police and the public.

At ADEC Preview, we are delighted to see that the positive impact of this programme is already being felt across the country. We were closely involved with 7 UK Forces during the course of this project when we securely catalogued, digitised and indexed their material with them.

So how does INI help the Police? What the Impact Nominal Index does is access information which has been downloaded from local police systems via the Criminal Records Bureau. It then allows authorised users in one force to identify and obtain information held by other forces on individuals of interest to them. This is then accessed by officers using a web-based search.

The benefits of this system from a Police perspective are best summed up by someone who actually uses the system such as Elaine Cook, a Police Constable based in Bedfordshire. She comments:

"Doing investigations into Child Protection cases was limited to our own force systems and it only came by chance that we discovered information was held by another force. Now, with one check, we know immediately whether another force holds information."

This has brought about some clear success stories which have avoided some potentially dangerous situations. One of these reported on the Home Office’s own website is:

"As a result of a query received in a child abuse unit, a police check was completed on a registered sex offender who had just moved in with a woman and her two young daughters. The INI check revealed that not only was he now under investigation by another force for sexually abusing two young girls, the force that 'owned' him on the sex offenders register did not know he had moved out of their area."

It’s certainly good to see that the results of the IMPACT programme are indeed making a difference.