BT Secures £70m IT Services Deal with South West Police Forces

Telecoms and broadband giant BT has today signed a 10-year partnership, worth £70m, to upgrade the IT and network services of both the Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police forces. The two forces currently handle more than 1 million emergency and non-emergency calls and respond to more than 118,000 incidents of recorded crime each year.

Under the deal, BT will support public contact and staff collaboration platforms, while frontline officers can also expect to benefit from “improved connectivity” for devices like mobile phones, body-word cameras and vehicle radio systems.

Security protocols will also be strengthened to help protect against external cyberthreats and officers will be better able to access critical real-time information. Not to mention helping to cut costs through greater efficiencies of service delivery.

Ashish Gupta, BT’s MD of Corporate and Public Sector, said:

“Efficient and resilient technology infrastructure is crucial to support the police in tackling both current and emerging threats – so we’re proud to have the back of South West police forces by delivering exactly that. This new managed service from BT will help future-proof connectivity in all areas of policing, from those on the frontline to behind-the-scenes support staff, helping them to protect the public and keep pace with the changing nature of crime.”

Perhaps this might also help the forces become more effective at actually catching shoplifters and home burglars too, but that’s probably wishful thinking on our part.