7th September, 2009 - Nottinghamshire Police have been shortlisted in the best improvement strategy category for this year's CCF European Call Centre Awards for the improvement work they have been undertaking since May 2007.

They were shortlisted for the demand management project which included a review of systems and working practices to ultimately enable staff and police officers to spend more time with victims, witnesses and proactively dealing with offenders.

One of the key improvements is the streamlining of the crime recording process through the Crime Wizard system from criminal intelligence specialist, ABM. This has played an important role in Nottinghamshire Police's improvement strategy with regard to reducing response times and the time taken to record crime details. Having used ABM's Information Management System (IMS), for the past six years, Nottinghamshire Police was one of the first services to implement the Crime Wizard module.

Providing a simple and flexible interface, Crime Wizard guides crime desk operatives through the information entry process when recording a crime. Additional functionality enables operatives to follow the ‘Lean Principles' approach recommended in Jan Berry's report, ‘Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing', by creating input processes which are proportionate to the severity of individual crimes. As a result, Nottingham Police has seen a significant saving in the time previously taken to record crime details.

Chief Superintendent David Walker, head of department said: "The benefits of this change have already been felt. Throughout this period of change, we have maintained our high level of service, something which is difficult to achieve and that is a credit to all our staff. We are looking forward to hearing the outcome at the awards ceremony on September 22."

Alastair Luff, managing director of ABM UK Limited, added: "Being shortlisted for these awards is a great achievement for all those at Nottinghamshire Police who are involved in the demand management project - and I am delighted that ABM's IT system has proved its value in helping streamline processes."

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Note to Editors:

About ABM
ABM is a leading supplier of criminal intelligence IT, developing best of breed solutions in partnership with customers to meet the unique requirements of the law enforcement market. ABM's intelligence-led applications are national standard compliant and work from a single data source enabling customers to gain substantial time saving and financial benefits. Its 180 law enforcement customers worldwide include internationally renowned organisations such as the Metropolitan Police Service, New York Police Department (NYPD) and Western Australia Police. For more information, visit ABM at http://www.abm-uk.com/

For more information:
Claudia Kellermann/Tony Martin
Portfolio Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7240 6959
Email: abm@portfoliocomms.com

For Nottinghamshire Police:
Ruth Gross, Communications Officer,
Tel: 0300 300 99 99 ext 2953

DATE: 7^th September 2009 REF: 09-114