Improving Police Performance.

There are possibly more than two and a half million calls for assistance made to the Greater Manchester Police each year. Including support staff, the total strength of the force currently servicing this workload is of the order of 9,000. As part of a research project in Greater Manchester, Salford University Business Services Ltd (SUBSL) were commissioned to develop a computer-based management information system with the aim of improving the perrformance of GMP (Greater Manchester Police) in the way it planned and responded to routine demands on police time. The system, to be as realistic as possible, was to be based on actual work pattterns of operational staff. The following article explains how the project was undertaken.