Airwave Terminal Security Policy

1. Statement of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to cover the physical security, handling and accounting of all Airwave TETRA assets owned or managed by Dyfed-Powys Police. This includes hand portable terminals, vehicle terminals, and fixed mobile terminals.

Applies (but not limited) to: All categories of Dyfed-Powys Police officers and staff, whether full-time, part-time, permanent, fixed term, temporary (including agency staff, associates and contractors, seconded staff and volunteers.  The policy applies specifically to officers, staff and volunteers who are authorised to use Airwave terminals as part of their work. Only officers, staff and volunteers who have received the Force Airwave terminal training package are authorised to use Airwave terminals.

 

2. Policy Scope

To support best practice being followed at all times, Airwave terminals must only be used by staff who have received the Force Airwave terminal training package.

Personally Issued Equipment

Police Officers and certain identified police staff have been personally issued with the following:

• Hand portable Airwave terminal and battery
• Personal charger
• Earpiece
• Carrying ancillaries

These items, when not in use, must be stored in the locked locker allocated for that purpose. When stored in the locker the terminals must be switched off.

For operational reasons, identified members of staff may be allowed to retain their radios when not on duty. In the main, these are officers who perform an ‘on call’ function. Line Management / Commander’s may authorise officers to take terminals home and may delegate that authority to a supervisory level that they deem appropriate.

When a hand portable radio terminal is stored unattended at an authorised user’s home, the building must be secured i.e., doors and other access points should be locked and windows closed.

Should it be necessary to leave a hand portable terminal in a vehicle temporarily, the terminal should be switched off, stored out of sight and the vehicle locked.

Pool Issued Equipment

Pool issued hand portable Airwave terminals are provided with:

• Battery
• Carrying ancillaries

These items, when not in use, must be stored in the locked locker allocated for that purpose. When stored in the locker the terminals must be switched off.

Pool radios must not be stored at any other location other than at the police station.

The issue of pool hand portable Airwave terminals must be authorised by the duty supervisor for the area concerned on each occasion. This must be recorded on the form provided within each pool locker.

Should it be necessary to leave a pool hand portable Airwave terminal in a vehicle temporarily, the terminal should be switched off, stored out of sight and the vehicle secured.

Vehicle Terminals

Vehicles that are fitted with an Airwave terminal must be locked when not occupied. If the vehicle terminal is to be used as a ‘gateway’ there is no requirement to switch the terminal off. In all other circumstances, terminals in unattended vehicles must be switched off.

When not in use, police vehicles are garaged. Where no garage provision exists, the vehicle must be secured.

Fixed Mobiles

Where a fixed mobile Airwave terminal is installed at a police station, the security of it is dealt with in accordance with the Information Security Policy (Standard 11 – Physical Security of Operational Areas and Premises) and the Security of Police Premises Policy.

Defects

Hand portable Airwave terminal

• If a fault cannot be rectified locally, a call must be logged by the user with the Force ICT Service Desk. Outside of normal working hours, the call must be logged with the Force Communications Centre (FCC). The Duty Inspector, FCC, is responsible for contacting the on-call ICT Specialist (Comms).
• The Force ICT Service desk / on call ICT Specialist (Comms) arranges for the terminal to be disabled remotely and provides instructions on how the terminal is to be forwarded for repair.

Vehicle Terminals

• A call must be logged by the user with the Force ICT Service Desk. Outside of normal working hours, the call must be logged with the FCC. The Duty Inspector, FCC, is responsible for contacting the on-call ICT Specialist (Comms).
• The Force ICT Service Desk / on call ICT Specialist (Comms) arranges for the terminal to be disabled remotely and provides instructions on how the terminal is to be forwarded for repair and arranges for a replacement terminal to be fitted to the vehicle.
• Should a police vehicle need to leave police premises for service or repair and be left unsupervised whilst that service or repair is carried out, the Force ICT Service Desk must be contacted by the user of the vehicle. The Force ICT Service Desk arranges for the vehicle Airwave terminal to be disabled remotely. Once the vehicle is returned following the service or repair, the user of the vehicle should again contact the Force ICT Service Desk for the radio to be reactivated.

Fixed Mobile

• A call must be logged by the user with the Force ICT Service Desk operator and their instructions followed. Outside of normal working hours, the call must be logged with the FCC. The Duty Inspector, FCC, is responsible for contacting the on-call ICT Specialist (Comms).

Ancillaries

• If a fault cannot be rectified locally, a call must be logged by the user with the Force ICT Service Desk operator and their instructions followed.

Lost / Stolen

To ensure that the Airwave Service infrastructure is not unnecessarily compromised and to maintain the security of force information within the Airwave Service, it is imperative that, in the event of an Airwave terminal being lost, the user of that terminal takes steps to recover it, for example taking time to search for the terminal.

If the terminal has not been recovered within one hour of the time the user discovered the loss, then the user must immediately contact the Force ICT Service Desk. The Force ICT Service Desk will arrange for that lost terminal to be immediately disabled remotely. Outside of normal working hours the Duty Inspector, FCC, is to be informed and they must contact the on-call ICT Specialist (Comms). If there is any possibility that the item has been stolen rather than lost, the presumption is that the terminal has been stolen and the procedures outlined below must be followed.

Should the terminal be stolen, the user of that terminal must immediately inform the Force ICT Service Desk operator of that theft. This is in addition to existing force practices relating to police property theft. The Force ICT Service Desk will arrange for that lost terminal to be immediately disabled remotely. Outside of normal working hours the Duty Inspector, FCC, is to be informed and they must contact the on-call ICT Specialist (Comms).

In the event of a radio having been stolen where the user of the terminal has become incapacitated, it is the duty of the first officer who discovers that information to inform the ICT service desk.

In the event of a terminal becoming lost / stolen the user must provide a comprehensive report surrounding the circumstances of the loss / theft to their Line Management / Commander. That report must be forwarded to the Head of Contact and Incident Management as Force Airwave system owner.

Audit

It is a requirement of the Home Office that a full audit of Airwave terminals is carried out on a regular basis, and at a minimum of once every 12 months.

Dyfed-Powys Police has a dedicated terminal custodian who is responsible for maintaining a record of all Airwave assets accessed by Dyfed-Powys Police. The records are kept using specialist software acquired by the Force.

In addition, there is a requirement by the Home Office that there will be access to Airwave staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This function will be exercised by the on-call communications staff.

The terminal custodian conducts an annual comprehensive audit of Airwave assets accessed by Dyfed-Powys Police. The results of the audit are provided to the Head of Contact and Incident Management.

There is a requirement for more frequent audits of assets held territorially to be undertaken. The frequency of these audits must be of less than 3 months between each audit, and a post holder must be identified as the person responsible for certifying that the audit has been undertaken.

The Force terminal custodian provides Line Management with an accurate list of the current known Airwave assets held within their area of responsibility.

Shortfalls in the audit must be immediately brought to the attention of the Head of Contact and Incident Management by the terminal custodian, who must comply with the Home Office guidelines in place at that time.

Software is deployed to pool radios to ensure any users of the device accurately record their usage and location to automate the audit process. The terminal custodian reviews the automatic audit reports to confirm the location of each radio and highlights any missing devices to Line Management.

 

3.  Powers and Policy/Legal Requirements

This policy is fit for purpose in that it meets requirements as identified in the Airwave Code of Connection.

The Force complies with the following legislation and all other legislation as appropriate, including, but not limited to:

• Computer Misuse Act 1990
• Data Protection Act 2018
• UK General Data Protection Regulation
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Official Secrets Act 1989
• Electronic Communications Act 2000
• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)
• Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Related policies, standards, procedures, practices, including, but not limited to:

• Dyfed-Powys Police Information Security Policy
• Dyfed-Powys Police Data Protection Policy

 

4.  Options and Contingencies

All Users

All users must actively comply with this policy and all such Airwave security requirements, including the reporting of any loss / theft. In the event of loss / theft, the user must provide a comprehensive report surrounding the circumstances of the loss / theft to their Line Management / Commander.

 

Line Management / Commanders

Line Management / Commanders may authorise officers to take terminals home and may delegate that authority to a supervisory level that they deem appropriate.

Line Management / Commanders must specify who is responsible for the daily audit of pool radios. 

Line Management / Commanders must report loss / theft of equipment to the Force Airwave System Owner.

 

Terminal Custodian

The Terminal Custodian must maintain a record of all Airwave assets accessed by Dyfed-Powys Police, including an annual comprehensive audit of Airwave assets.

The Terminal Custodian must provide Line Management / Commanders with an accurate list of the current known Airwave assets held within their area of responsibility and report any shortfalls immediately to the Force Airwave System Owner.

 

Force Airwave System Owner

The Head of Contact and Incident Management is the Force Airwave System Owner and carries out this role in accordance with Home Office guidelines.

 

Senior ICT Manager Support

The Senior ICT Manager Support reviews this policy on an annual basis.

The following Code of Ethics principles are relevant to this policy:

• Public Service 
• Courage 
• Respect & Empathy 

The carrying out of Airwave asset auditing demonstrates accountability, honesty and integrity.

Training of users before they use Airwave assets demonstrates openness in the way this policy is conveyed. 

 

5.  Take action and review

This policy is updated as necessary to reflect and comply with any changes or amendments to relevant practices. This document is subject to annual review by the Senior ICT Manager Support.

 

CODE OF ETHICS CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Code of Ethics and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Code and the principles underpinning it.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACT CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Human Rights Act and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Act and the principles underpinning it.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the protected characteristics that qualify for protection under the Act as follows: Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and Maternity; Race; Religion or Belief; Sex; Sexual Orientation.

The public sector equality duty places a proactive legal requirement on public bodies to have regard, in the exercise of their functions, to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other conduct that is unlawful under the Act;
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The equality duty applies to all protected characteristics with the exception of Marriage and Civil Partnership, to which only the duty to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination applies.

Carrying out an equality impact assessment involves systematically assessing the likely or actual effects of policies on people in respect of all the protected characteristics set out above. An equality impact assessment should be carried out on any policy that is relevant to the public sector equality duty. 

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT COMPLETED: October 2024