Crime database revamp delayed
The Age
Saturday March 27, 2010
THE $59 million revamp of Victoria Police's crime database has been put on hold due to cost blowouts, in the latest information technology blunder for the state government.The six-month delay to the new software program comes on the back of the botched rollout of the myki ticketing system and delays to the $2 billion smart electricity metre scheme.Announcing the delays to the new IT system, Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe rejected comparisons to myki but conceded police did not know what the ultimate cost of the new IT program would be."It's not a concern that it's a myki," he said. "The best thing for us to do is just to take a break, suspend it and get some advice. It's being responsible with the money that we've been allocated by government." The new LINK system, which is operating in Queensland, Britain and Canada, was to be rolled out this year, but has been suspended due to increasing costs and problems with the system working with more than 20 other IT programs.Victoria Police IT director Michael Vanderheide said the suspension came after projections showed the project could take years to complete. Outside IT experts will now provide new analysis on how to finish the project in less time, he said.The old Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) has been beset by problems since its introduction in 1993, including the repeated leaks of sensitive personal information, and has been damned in a series of independent reports.A 2005 report by Ombudsman George Brouwer called for LEAP to be replaced, at an approximate cost of $30 million, saying it was obsolete and unreliable. Last March, another report by Mr Brouwer found official police records are under-reporting some crimes.The report called on the police to ensure the progress of LINK and stated: "The weaknesses of the Victoria Police information technology systems include: incompatible systems, impeded information sharing . . . lack of common data standards and an inability to link business intelligence with factual information about incidents."Responding to that 2009 report, Police Minister Bob Cameron pointed to the LINK system as the solution to improving the keeping of crime records.Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said the LINK delay showed the government was wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars and accused the government of releasing the bad news under the cover of the grand prix. "This is just another debacle in this government's IT rollout," he said.Mr Cameron said yesterday he had been given assurances from Chief Commissioner Simon Overland that the police would seek expert advice during this six-month delay period to deal with integration problems.The Police Association said officers had been waiting for a modern IT system for years.
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