|
Research among ACPO members highlights concern
Bagshot, United Kingdom, May 24th, 2004 - ZyLAB,
an established market leader of document management and full-text
retrieval software, today announced the results of research to assess
the effectiveness of paper and electronic document management systems
currently in use by police investigation teams in England & Wales.
The research, commissioned by ZyLAB, was sent to all members of
the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and also conducted
among delegates at the recent ACPO conference. It reveals that 81%
of serving Police officers agreed that investigations have failed
(either frequently, or occasionally) because of poor management
of paper-based information.
Of the 129 serving police officers questioned, 57% also agreed that
more cases would get to court if systems for storing, organising
and using paper-based information were more efficient.
ZyLAB UK managing director, Ian Quanstrom said: "The survey reveals
an urgent need for improvement in document management within the
Police service. As a specialist we are very close to this market
and also have experience across the world, but even we were shocked
by the high levels of concern revealed among serving officers of
all ranks."
Senior officers slammed the document management systems currently
in place to support investigation teams in the management of paper-based
information - 45% of senior officers felt that they are "not very
effective".
In the USA, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents are using
ZyIMAGE to analyse data obtained in the Enron investigation. Field
officers have been able to recover millions of pages of hard-copy
documents, including thousands of electronic documents from laptops
and servers, seized by the agents. The ease of document sharing
facilitated by ZyLAB means that federal agents can simultaneously
process hundreds of gigabytes of data at offices in Washington DC,
Houston and San Francisco.
About ZyLAB
Founded in 1983, ZyLAB is the leading provider of document imaging
and paper filing software that helps Global 2000 companies and governments
digitally file and manage millions of pages of paper and electronic
documents. ZyLAB's comprehensive investigative capabilities, with
its high quality search and retrieval features supporting more than
200 languages, giving users the ability to organise and easily share
all information online, makes ZyLAB software the preferred solution
for intelligence agencies, law-enforcement organisations, prosecutors,
law firms, courts, in-house legal departments.
With more than 7,000 installations worldwide and over 300,000 users
including Amtrak, the FBI, the CIA, the INS (Department of Homeland
Security), the New York Stock Exchange, Pepsico, Riggs Bank, the
State of New York, and Walt Disney, ZyLAB has a wide breadth of
experience and knowledge across a variety of different industries
and business applications. The company has offices located in McLean,
Virginia in the USA, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands,
Singapore and Australia to provide global service to its client
base. For more information visit www.zylab.com - document management and records management
About ACPO Through a series of committees and working
groups ACPO members, often in consultation with other groups, develop
policy and guidance for the police service. The Association aims
to assist chief officers in providing excellence in leadership of
the service; to ensure a professional and ethical service is delivered
to all communities; and to provide professional advice to Government,
Police Authorities, other organisations and individuals with an
interest in policing issues.
ACPO's 292 members are; police officers of Assistant Chief Constable
rank (Commanders in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police)
and above, and senior non-police managers, in the 44 forces in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland, plus national agencies such as NCIS
and the National Crime Squad, and other forces such as British Transport
Police and States of Jersey Police. For more information visit www.acpo.police.uk
Media Contact:
Evan Weisel
Welz & Weisel Communications
P: 703-323-6006
evan@w2comm.com
|