Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Archive/PA Images

A £21m contract to supply mobile services to Police Scotland has been awarded to mobile operator EE.

The three-year contract will give police officers use of mobile devices, enabling them to access information remotely and spend more time out in communities. Officers and other staff with a device will no longer have to rely on multiple sources for information. Everything will be made available on one device while they are out of the police station, and they will also be able to record information in a secure, digital format.

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EE, part of BT Group, will be the mobile network supplier and main contractor, while Motorola will supply its Pronto Digital Notebook software. The device handsets will come from Samsung, with BlackBerry providing the mobile device management solution. Use of the devices is expected to begin this year. They will be assigned first to response and community police, followed by officers in roads policing and the specialist services division.

This project is the first part of transformation plans to improve police digital and IT infrastructure in line with the ten-year ‘Policing 2026’ strategy developed by Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority in 2017.

Police Scotland assistant chief constable Malcolm Graham said: “This contract signifies the commitment Police Scotland and the SPA have in leading the force into a more digitally focused future. The use of mobile devices will revolutionise the way officers and staff access systems, currently only available from desktop and laptop computers within police stations, enabling them to work on crime prevention and community-based policing to keep people safe, whether in the public, private or virtual space.”