Transforming UK Policing

Our number one priority is to create a safer environment for local communities.

Sharing Information

A key priority of the police service is to create a safe environment for our local communities. We are always looking to develop innovative ways that allow us to deliver improvements and a real customer focused service.

Along with our police authorities we have signed up as the seven ‘early adopters’ of Athena - a collaboration based around a new shared technology platform - because we believe this programme will significantly help us to improve policing in our communities. We believe it will eventually transform the way police forces operate across the country.

Once the new technology is in place, Athena forces will be able to share information in four key areas: intelligence, investigation, managing offenders and preparing files for court. As well as sharing information more easily across police boundaries, Athena will allow us to significantly streamline the way we record data within the force. At the moment information on suspects, defendants, witnesses and missing people is often stored in different databases, all of which have to be updated separately.

The financial savings we will make as a result of using one shared IT system are also hugely important. They will allow us to maintain investment in frontline policing. We are confident that by being part of Athena and embracing collaboration, we will be able to improve our operations and keep our local communities safer for years to come.

Athena Benefits

For your force

• Reduced IT and procurement costs

• Opportunity to collaborate more closely

• Improved operational resilience

• Better risk management

• Reduced bureaucracy

For your staff

• Immediate access to more information

• More informed decision making

• Improved duty of care

• Richer intelligence

• Reduced case file rejections

Athena

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The Core Components

Intelligence:• Tasking and briefing capability including cross border• NIM compliant• Reduced operational risk

Investigation:• Reduce double keying• Linked data together in one place• Risk/threat assessment and management• Investigation includes:

- Crime- Anti-Social Behaviour- Domestic Abuse- Vulnerable Adults- Hate Crime- Road Traffic Collisions- Child Protection Investigations

Defendant Management:

Custody• Enhance identification• Speedy booking in processes• Automatic update of investigation reports• Premises search warrant• Strengthens PACE & Safer Detention Compliance• Automatic update of case file

Case Preparation• Pre-population of MG forms• Full electronic case file• Arrest warrant• Virtual court processing• Full management of summons, postal requisitions, FPN’s• Link to National systems eg CPS & HMCS

Athena

The Athena Solution

ShAred CoST

Financial Savings

Safer Communities

Bringing Offenders to

justice

BeST PrACTICe

CollABorATIon

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Flexible Common Processes

• Evolving set of processes to support collaboration

• Governed by all through Athena Advisory Board

• Flexible to local needs and issues

• Uses the Police Activities Glossary (PAG)

• Supports the Management of Police Information (MoPI) guidance

Technical Architecture

• Secure cloud-based solution

• Built in resilience and disaster recovery

• Ability to plug into existing partner systems

• Enterprise platform with specialist modules

• Delivered using Software as a Service

Athena’s ground breaking technology provides one standard across policing boundaries.

Supporting Victims

Preventing Threat and

Harm

Bringing Offenders to

justice

BeST PrACTICe

JoIned-uP InFormATIon

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2

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Duty of care to staff

Athena is based on old technology.

The facts: The Athena solution uses new software components within a modern, service oriented architecture to create the most advanced policing system anywhere in the world.

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What Athena means for your people

leadership

Inspector

Custody officer

Athena will let the leadership team support four major business areas with less money than is currently spent, allowing them to reinvest in operational delivery. Athena will be familiar to officers and staff across force boundaries, and will

On a daily basis, Athena will aid tasking and briefing of front line officers. Inspectors and supervisors can be confident that their staff will have access to timely information that stretches across force boundaries. Athena is key in assisting to reduce

Officers from any Athena force will be able to seamlessly process detainees from report to court. Custody records are prepopulated from nominal data already held on Athena, and detainees who

support common business processes in order to streamline criminal justice for the CPS, HMRC and other partners. It will provide senior leaders with unrivalled real time analysis of operational information, intelligence and performance.

bureaucracy while complying with the requirements of key legislation such as PACE and associated codes of practice. Athena really allows front line officers to deliver a first class policing service to local communities.

are wanted by other Athena forces can be processed without the need to transfer out of force. Where a detainee is linked to an investigation, this is flagged whilst they are in your custody.

Athena

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on the beat

Your communities

Criminal Justice Case Worker

With Athena, officers on patrol will have instant access to all the information we have about a potential suspect, through secure hand-held mobile devices, allowing them to make swift, informed decisions. They will have the

Athena is focused on the Eastern Region.

The facts: The Athena collaboration currently involves seven founder forces, a further five member forces and the NPIA and governance involves every stakeholder.

Athena will support local people by helping the police better protect the most vulnerable from harm, provide better support to witnesses through the justice process, and deliver faster justice for victims.

CJU staff using Athena will see time savings in completing files and will be better able to deliver the right support to victims and witnesses. Data used at any stage during report, intelligence, investigation, arrest and detention can be re-used with double keying,

information in front of them - for example on whether to make an arrest or not. At the moment our officers frequently come back to the station to access further information about a suspect.

Police Officers and staff alike will be better informed when talking to members of the public, building trust and confidence in local communities.

while a complete electronic case file means a substantial reduction in paper files. By linking national systems and the enabling of digital evidence, Athena gives full support to the digital case folder and virtual courts processing.

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Athena’s ground-breaking technology provides one standard across policing

boundaries.

mYThBUSTER

Anticipated savings

Business Benefits

• Reduced costs for software application licences

• Lower support charges from application suppliers

• Individual force data centres use reduced

• Cost of hardware shared across multiple forces

• Reduced requirement for application support

• Operational resources allocated to projects and user groups also reduced

• Best practice leads to better performance with less effort

• Faster information flow between forces and agencies

• Increased speed of procurement

• Time saved on IT decisions for Chief Officer Group

• Reduced cost of ownership

• Reduced cost of change

• Standardisation of training

Applications Infrastructure Support Operations Total

Collaboration and joined up information offers considerable scope for savings and service improvements.

• Reduced bureaucracy• Lower cost• Closer collaboration• Reduced risk • Faster decisions• Improved duty of care

• Access to shared information• More informed decisions• Improved data quality• Reduced complexity• Increased resilience• More responsive to change

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Athena

GovernanceThe contract on which Athena is based uses framework arrangements overseen by a single organisation - the Athena Management Organisation (the AMO) - acting as a single interface to the supplier. This arrangement allowed significant cost reductions to be agreed.

The governance arrangements put in place to ensure the Athena Management Organisation can operate effectively are detailed in the Athena (Operations) Section 23 document, which all participating forces are required to sign before they sign the call-off contract.

The Athena Management Board has a membership from every Athena force at both Chief Officer and Police Authority level. In order to manage the scale of the board, the Authorities delegate to the Chief Officers for all matters except budget.

All Athena forces are represented on these groups where they wish to be, although membership is not a contractual requirement. The AMO is a number of full time secondees who provide a combination of contractually required services, such as supplier management and client management, as well as other functions such as implementation support to forces. The design of the AMO has been based on the Intelligent Client function used within the MPS Directorate of Information.

The Athena Management Board has a membership

from every Athena force at both Chief Officer and Police Authority level.

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There is no scope for local tailoring of business processes.

The facts: There are no mandated organisational structures for operating Athena and processes have been designed to provide flexibility for operational differences.

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Success to date

1700 requirements identified for new systems

Collaboration team put together to assess process and supporting IT systems

Rigorous process, with NPIA/Home Office support, over 12 months

Athena tender published; 19 suppliers responses

Deployment

Testing

Infrastructure Build

System Development

Essex Police go live

2009 - 2010 2011

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Athena

2012 - 2013 2015

IT suppliers don’t have the capacity to deliver.

The facts: NPS was selected following a competitive process, and this was based on its capacity and capabilities to deliver the solution that is required by the UK Police Service. NPS provided compelling evidence of their ability to deliver this programme, and have been providing both national and local applications to police forces since 1978.

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Framework agreement put in place and signed by seven founder forces.

Northgate Public Services awarded the Athena contract

how to join usThe four year Athena framework agreement offers any England and Wales law enforcement agency the opportunity to sign, without any further competition, a ten year contract which is extendable by up to five years.

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Athena Management OrganisationHoffmans WayChelmsfordEssexCM1 1GU

Tel: 01245 291635 / 291681 Online: www.aboutathena.info

Contact us today