|
Police Solve 'Unsolvable' Cases with Screensaver |
|
Monday, 02 July 2007 |
 |
Police Zone GAOZ (Genk-As-Opglabbeek-Zutendaal) successfully uses the PC screensaver as a tracking and tracing method. Yearly, more than a dozen cases are solved thanks to screensaver technology from software vendor Netpresenter.
|
Especially when teams get stuck with a case, putting an APB on the PC screensaver often helps them to new leads.
The force bought the Netpresenter technology to streamline the force’s internal communication. “Police forces are very information intensive organisations. In the past, officers were primarily briefed via e-mail and more than 400 printed orders a year. With Netpresenter we have been able to make the information stream far less bureaucratic. The number of e-mails has been minimalized and the number of printed orders has been reduced to less than 50 per year,” says Frank Mulleners, chief constable of Police Zone GAOZ.
With the Netpresenter software, Police Zone GAOZ publishes all internal news headlines on the screensaver and on a large plasma screen in the canteen – from new legislation, the contact details of the magistrate on guard, introduction to new employees and now also APBs. “We aim to publish only the news headlines on Netpresenter: it should act as a signpost. Officers should know that there is a new law and where they can find more information on that law. The same goes for APBs. Because a picture can be published with the message, communication via the screensaver is more efficient,” continues Mulleners. “The system most surely did what we originally implemented it for. That Netpresenter is also a big help with solving crime, we had not counted on, but of course adds tremendous value to the system. More than a dozen cases solved in the past year, speaks for itself.” |
|
|