A major project which will see officers armed with mobile devices in a bid to cut down on paperwork and allow them more time on the streets is being trialled.

Staff and officers at the States of Jersey Police have spent the last few months working behind the scenes to see how the project would work, what it should look like and how it will affect the everyday lives of officers and the public.

From today 44 officers and staff from departments across the Force will be part of the trial, half equipped with mobile devices which will allow them to carry out their jobs in a very different way and half continuing to work as normal.

The basis of the project is that instead of having to return to the station to fill out endless mountains of paperwork they will instead fill this out on the go and be able to continue to their next incident or job more efficiently, without having to duplicate their work. That means more officers out and about engaging with the public or catching criminals.

It will also mean that people dealing with police will receive a much more efficient, quick service and have even more access to officers when needed, as less time will be spent on administration.

Superintendent James Wileman said: “Under increasing public and political scrutiny we have to keep enhancing the service we provide but with less money and ultimately fewer resources. This project will allow us to better serve the public in the 21st century. It’s a huge step forward for us and will be a very exciting time for us going forward.”

The trial consists of 44 officers from almost every department across the force. Half will be equipped with a range of devices, from tablets to laptops to phones, and half without. They will record their daily activities with or without devices for a period of five weeks, and then switch roles for a further five. This will allow the project team to gauge the impact the devices have had on each officer’s particular role or type of duty.

Supt Wileman said: “This is one of the biggest projects currently being run across the States and we are proud to be leading the way with such cutting edge technology. We believe it will revolutionise the way we work and the next 10 weeks are going to be very interesting.”