Suffolk Constabulary
Suffolk Police Trusted Unisys to provide a secure and timely solution.
Imagine it.
Implement upgrade access to critical IT network with no loss of operability or security, at the height of the force’s activity.

Done.
Overnight, Unisys upgraded Suffolk Police’s access to ‘HOLMES 2’ (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) with no loss of service, compromise in security or interruption to the force’s ongoing usage of the network. Unisys ensured continual access to HOLMES 2 and equipped the force with an invaluable IT resource to meet its needs for years to come.

Breakthrough: Conviction to Technology Gets the Result
When Suffolk Constabulary faced its most daunting challenge they turned to Unisys to help. Murder enquiries hinge on the viability of evidence. HOLMES 2, a sophisticated electronic documents management filing system, enabled Suffolk Police to intelligently access a magnitude of information and coherently present its findings to the jury.

 

Challenge:  Time Sensitive, Secure, System Upgrade

Suffolk Constabulary was formed from the merger of smaller regional policing areas in 1967. The force has a geographically challenging region to cover – including rural areas, major towns such as Ipswich and one of the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe. It maintains close contact with its neighbouring forces in Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire as well as with other forces across the UK and is typical of how modern policing operates in a joined up and technology enabled way.

 

Unisys has been working with the Suffolk Constabulary for over 10 years, implementing and maintaining vital IT solutions for the force. As IT has developed and modern policing has put new demands on software capabilities, IT implementation has become more crucial than ever.

 

Suffolk Police has been using the HOLMES system for over twenty years, both in its current incarnation as HOLMES 2 and its forebear version 1, HOLMES. HOLMES 2 is installed in over 50 police forces and agencies across the UK. With functionality to share data between forces; HOLMES 2 represents an invaluable tool in tracking records and potential criminals through the various county records.

 

HOLMES was introduced in 1984 following the infamous Yorkshire Ripper case and the subsequent Byford review which urgently recommended the development and implementation of an IT system which ensured easy retrieval of data for comparison.

 

The time saving and enhanced information it offers have made it a key tool in helping police forces to deliver improvements in operational efficiency and build public confidence in the police.

 

In December 2006, the bodies of five women were found in Ipswich over a 10 day period. Suffolk faced an unprecedented five simultaneous enquiry situation; this meant that Suffolk needed to process each enquiry as if it was a separate murder investigation. The high profile investigation that ensued hinged upon intelligently storing and analysing the mass of information available to the police, enabling them to identify the culprit and demonstrate its compliance with procedure. The evidence needed to be thorough and exact in order to stand up in a court of law.

 

In response, Unisys was called in by Suffolk Constabulary to deliver the extra HOLMES 2 capacity that the force needed to help with its investigation. Over a week, sudden increased pressure on Suffolk’s existing HOLMES 2 system meant that the force needed an immediate upgrade of its user numbers, requiring an overhaul of the system’s back office IT. Responding quickly to the situation at Suffolk’s HQ in Ipswich, Unisys arrived on the site and immediately began the upgrade.

 

Designed around MIRSAP (Major Incident Room Standard Administrative Procedures), HOLMES 2 gave the police force the confidence to progress its investigations, at the same time protecting themselves against accusations of flaws in its workflow, calls for an inquiry and having the case thrown out of court.

 

The overhaul of the system’s back office IT, at a crucial point in the investigation, had the potential to add stress to an already heightened situation. Unisys implemented a fast and seamless upgrade onsite. Suffolk Police’s access to the new HOLMES 2 system was completed overnight, with no loss of service or compromise in security. Unisys ensured continual access to HOLMES 2 and equipped the force with an invaluable IT resource which met the needs of the police on the ground. By searching, sharing and allocating actions out to team members, regardless of the size of the operation, police officers in the field were equipped with vital information.

Solution: Expanded Access, New Hardware and Expert Implementation

It was one of those times when you really appreciate your partners going the extra mile and coming through for you.
Stewart Gull
Detective Chief Superintendent
Suffolk Constabulary

We were working on our most challenging case in Suffolk Constabulary’s history. Unisys provided the crucial IT systems we needed overnight! It meant we could analyse all the information from the numerous sources without concern over capacity or security.
Stewart Gull
Detective Chief Superintendent
Suffolk Constabulary Working overnight, Unisys switched the whole IT backbone for the HOLMES 2 system and migrated all the data to a new server. Unisys worked with Sun Microsystems Inc., who sourced the new server for Suffolk, with the hardware being shipped to Ipswich immediately. For both Unisys and Suffolk Constabulary this was a critical time – there could be no interruption to the police’s use of HOLMES 2 - downtime wasn’t an option. Similarly there could be no loss of data or any opportunities for security lapses. The transfer had to be seamless and instantaneous. A process which under normal circumstances and lead times would take weeks if not months had to be completed in hours.

 

“We were working on our most challenging case in Suffolk Constabulary’s history. Unisys provided the crucial IT systems we needed overnight! It meant we could analyse all the information from the numerous sources without concern over capacity or security”, commented Stewart Gull, Detective Chief Superintendent, Suffolk Constabulary.

Results: Excellent Service Delivery with Optimal IT & 1st Class Service

Unisys worked through the night to ensure that by morning there was full, enhanced capability in Suffolk’s HOLMES 2 system. The speed of the response by both Unisys and Sun Microsystems Inc., meant that the investigations for Suffolk could continue, unhindered and with far greater capacity, meeting the needs of the police on the ground.

 

As Stewart Gull explains “The benefits of having a well-established relationship with an IT strategic vendor who we could call upon in a time of need was critical. Unisys was already equipped with the requisite knowledge and experience of our systems to tackle the situation quickly and expertly. When you’re up against the clock, this level of support was exceptional.
The ways in which Unisys and Suffolk Constabulary work together has been exemplified by how well the events of 2006 were managed”.

Relationship: Suffolk Constabulary appreciates its IT partner
Suffolk and Unisys represent an excellent example of how IT implementation and the essential relationship between force and supplier have become more crucial than ever.

 

“It was one of those times when you really appreciate your partners going the extra mile and coming through for you”, recalled Stewart Gull.  "We need to work quickly and accurately, with absolute security of data - and this is never truer than when we are busy with multiple enquiries."

 

Profile: Suffolk Police

Solution at a Glance

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