Police operational planning and crime detection through adopting an information systems approach

In recent years the introduction and subsequent enhancements of information technology has seen the emergence of major opportunities for developing new approaches to improve information interchange. The provision of information provides opportunities to find resolutions to problem situations, and the power of providing relevant and accurate information through using information systems cannot be underestimated. However, the world of information systems thinking has, so far, experienced difficulty finding a methodology suitable for utilising the full range of available current information technology. This situation in the real world shows itself predominantly as information starvation as current information systems struggle to bring order and structure to information technology developments. This paper considers the extent in which well-established methodologies can be incorporated into the design of a new information system. The two approaches considered for this purpose are Peter Checklands Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Stafford Beers Viable Systems Model (VSM). Each approach will be introduced and their functionality will be demonstrated through the use of case studies. This paper illustrates how SSM and VSM can be integrated to achieve autonomy and self-adaptation. Through the integration of these two approaches a generic framework will be put in place that allows autonomy and self-adaptation. This paper will demonstrate the implementation of the generic framework in a UK Police Authority, a large emergency service that suffers from information starvation. In the context of a UK Police Authority the combination of soft systems methodology and viable systems model, being supported by GIS functionality, is seen as being a significant progression in relation to crime detection and operational planning.