Soon You'll Be Able To Track Your Crime

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 130 months ago
Soon You'll Be Able To Track Your Crime

Soon you should be able to track how police are getting on with solving crime the way you track a parcel.

At Wednesday's Mayor's Question Time, Boris Johnson confirmed the Metropolitan Police are looking into software called Track My Crime, used by other forces in the UK. Avon and Somerset piloted it a few years ago and got 95% positive feedback.

The idea is that victims of crime can get an update on the status of the investigation – maybe interviewing a suspect or an arrest – without waiting around for a call from the police. (From the opposite point of view, it can also cut down on police time spent trying to get hold of victims to provide an update.) Conservative Assembly Member Tony Arbour has been campaigning for it, and yesterday at City Hall the Mayor was able to give him the good news:

Track my Crime is indeed being taken up by MOPAC. We are actively looking at how to implement it and give Londoners exactly that confidence and opportunity to see what's happening.

Earlier this year the Met came bottom of a national survey of victim satisfaction rates, scoring an average of 74% across all boroughs. It's clearly hoping that keeping people in the loop will keep them happier – and we can see why, though that transparency will need to be matched by action. After all, nothing's more frustrating than logging on to find out where your parcel is only to see it stuck at the depot for two weeks.

Photo by psyxjaw from the Londonist Flickr pool

Last Updated 23 May 2013