Chief Timothy Wilson told BCN News that since starting in the role as head of the Niue Police, one of his priorities was to improve the records management and security of information held by the police.
Nearly two years later, the Niue Police are now moving towards a paperless work environment but importantly are now able to improve the management of records and information and departmental efficiency with a new records management system (RMS) called Mark 43.
Chief of Police Timothy Wilson told BCN news of the many benefits of the system, such as improved security of information held by the Police.
“We can lock down records we don’t want certain people to see. If we have a national security type issue where, where we don’t want everyone to see it, we can lock it down so only me and Inspector can see it. It makes the records a lot more secure. Makes it so we don’t lose a lot of records. It adds a lot of layers of security to our Police records.
“It (RMS system) doesn’t allow people to change the records once it’s approved so there’s a lot of security. This allows us to keep very detailed records, it allows us to keep records dating back a long time, keeping accurate records and it also tells us when people have accessed records” says Chief Tim Wilson.
Chief Wilson said that this system will solve a lot of their previous problems dealing with information and keeping accurate records. The new system will also allow for quick information access for investigations
“A lot of old problems this RMS system will solve for us. The first thing is because of all the different types of reports that we have to compile to put into the file, a lot of that is repetitive work so with the new system they just need to be put in once and the system itself will put it on all the documentation.
“Before we had this records management system, each individual constable will type their own report on their own computer with their own login”.
According to the Chief, his Police team will be able to retrieve information even out in the field such as registration and license statuses.
“The system will allow the officers to do their work from out in the field. It will allow our people to have access to current registration and drivers license statuses”.
The cloud-based RMS will also improve efficiency and access to accurate information.
“That’s one of the great things about this system because it’s based in the cloud so it doesn’t require server storage on our part. All the evidence, the video recordings audio recordings are put in there. We don’t have to store it but it also makes it accessible from anywhere”.
The other key benefit of the system is the information the Police department can use to substantiate their reporting requirements as well as to respond to information requests from the media and government agencies.
When asked if this system will make it easier for the Niue Police to share information with their counterparts in New Zealand and Australia, Chief Timothy Wilson said that we don’t have any drug-related crime problems in Niue but having a more secure records management system provides assurances to their international counterparts that any information shared with the Niue Police will be held in a secure system.
“There are shipping routes that come from North America to the South Pacific to Australia and New Zealand and we’re within those shipping routes, so we want to be able to have access to their information. And they are happy to share the information with us if we can secure it. So this (system) allows us to secure it” says Chief of Police Tim Wilson.
Mark 43 was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and has been operational since November last year when the Police department began learning how to use the system.
Technical support is also provided remotely from New Zealand and Australia.