Day 6 of the Annual Awards roundup: Meet our ICT Innovator, Shaun Coles

Today we are celebrating software specialist, Shaun Coles, winner of the 2020 Dyfed-Powys Police Innovation and Continuous Improvement award, and creator of the new software system, Ardal - an ICT application that has revitalised neighbourhood policing.

Shaun’s new multi-functional system Ardal, meaning ‘area’ in Welsh, has allowed Dyfed-Powys Police’s frontline officers to effortlessly document local information on their mobile data terminals whilst out and about.

Ardal has enabled PCSOs and police officers to be more visible and accessible in their communities, as they can now access, update and link numerous police ICT systems quickly and efficiently from their location.

Shaun’s system has proven immensely valuable in the initial ‘golden hour’ of major and critical incidents, such high-risk missing persons, providing information on available CCTV systems as well as ‘live time’ feeds from external databases, such as public transport timetables.

The pioneering system also has an audit function, allowing Dyfed-Powys Police analysts and managers to review and measure the work carried out by the neighbourhood policing teams- something which historically has been very difficult to evaluate.

Since September 2019, Ardal has recorded:

• Over 30,000 entries of correspondence with businesses and members of the public
• Over 6,000 updates against local policing priorities
• Over 2,000 events

Chief Inspector Mark McSweeney, from the force’s Safer Communities Hub, requested the new system and was blown away by Ardal’s endless development opportunities: “In my twenty years of neighbourhood policing experience, I have never seen a system that is so easy to use with so much functionality.”

Shaun continues to innovate and improve the force’s ICT applications. Catching up with him, he gave us a glimpse of things to come: “This June, Dyfed-Powys Police will be launching Llais, a community messaging system which will provide the public information on police campaigns, local appeals and news in their local areas via email.

“The Llais system will be fully integrated into Ardal, and so local officers will be able to send information to people who subscribe to the service.”

Well done Shaun and with the launch of Llais, who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing more of him at the Dyfed-Powys Police 2021 Annual Awards.

THE INNOVATION & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AWARD, SPONSORED BY | Baydale Control Systems- specialists in the design, installation, servicing and maintenance of CCTV, Access Control, Fire Alarm and Concierge systems, as well as creatively designed Integrated Solutions, for both public sector and corporate clients.