The “main problem” with ControlWorks Software used by police to track emergency calls led to delays in officers obtaining vital information during a fast-paced investigation, Computer Weekly has learned.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) uses ControlWorks as part of its command and control system. The software is primarily used to manage, record and classify calls received by emergency services from the public.
Sources confirmed that a “major issue” with ControlWorks in 2020 meant the information was not shared with the investigative team as part of a fast-moving investigation until the day after it was received.
According to Computer Weekly, the PSNI ControlWorks operator told frontline officers that system alerts related to the investigation could be lost or delayed.
A senior officer on the case later confirmed that crucial information in the fast-moving police investigation had been delayed due to a problem with ControlWorks.
The PSNI told Computer Weekly that there had been no incidents with ControlWorks that resulted in data loss and that if problems did arise, any delays to police response would be minimal.
The PSNI is expected to keep a record of incidents with ControlWorks and refer any serious incidents to its supplier for investigation.
ControlWorks strives to reduce response times
The ControlWorks suite includes computer-based dispatch and customer relationship management capabilities that are designed to reduce response times by speeding call handler decision-making.
PSNI announced that in 2018 it used Capita Communications and Control Solutions' ControlWorks software, replacing its 20-year-old Capita Atlas command and control system, which had reached the end of its life.
Since February 2018, ControlWorks has been installed in three PSNI regional contact management centres. The contract was awarded for an initial period of seven years, with an option to extend it for a further ten years. The current contract renewal date is September 30, 2028.
ControlWorks, used by senior commanders and communications operators, was launched by Capita in 2013. One of the company's advantages was that it offered auditable logs for greater accountability and greater sustainability.
Having invested heavily in software, Capita sold its security solutions and services business, which included ControlWorks and other software for emergency services, to NEC Software Solutions UK for £62 million. Following a lengthy review by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the sale was completed in 2023.
Police Use of ControlWorks
ControlWorks is used by a number of UK police forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Derbyshire, South Wales, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defense Police.
An independent verification in 2020 discovered serious problems with Greater Manchester Police's iOPS IT system supplied by Capita, which attempted to integrate ControlWorks with Capita's PoliceWorks records management software used by police officers to manage daily investigations and intelligence records.
“Even when officers were trained, users reported that searches in ControlWorks and PoliceWorks sometimes returned inconsistent or incorrect risk information,” the review said.
Greater Manchester Police subsequently announced plans to replace PoliceWorksprocess that is expected to be completed next yearonce concluded, it could not be adapted or amended to meet the needs of the organization. He continued to use ControlWorks.
How ControlWorks errors are classified
According to Freedom of Information requests to West Midlands PoliceIncidents in ControlWorks are classified based on their severity level.
Critical incidents that impact the availability of ControlWorks across the force are classified as P1 and must be corrected within eight hours by force IT providers.
The overall degradation of the quality of service offered by ControlWorks is classified as P2 and must be corrected within six hours.
Less serious incidents are classified as P3, which must be resolved by the force provider within 24 hours, and P4, which does not require immediate resolution.
PSNI: no major glitches
The PSNI said there were no major disruptions to ControlWorks.
“Police can confirm that to date there have been no major failures that resulted in data loss as the applications, servers and infrastructure are highly resilient,” the spokesman said.
“If a failure occurs in ControlWorks, it will be resolved by trained colleagues who also have the resilience to ensure that if an error occurs there is minimal delay in police response time,” the spokesperson added.
The Police Board of Northern Ireland, which oversees the PSNI, said it had not received any reports of errors in ControlWorks from the PSNI.
The spokesperson said that in the event of a major system failure or significant loss of information or data, the board of directors would be informed.
The PSNI did not mention the issue with ControlWorks in its annual reports.
NEC, which completed its purchase of ControlWorks from Capita in August 2023, said it was not aware of any significant issues related to ControlWorks since acquiring the business.
“We work closely with police and other agencies to ensure reliability and safety, and we have not been aware of any significant issues related to ControlWorks since we acquired the business in 2023,” the statement said.
A spokesman for Capita, which originally supplied ControlWorks to PSNI, said: “As we sold this business several years ago, we are unable to comment.”
