Northamptonshire Police & HRS collaborate to improve safety

Northamptonshire Police and digital specialists, HRS are working together on a new approach to road closures following a serious road traffic collision. Their use of digital technology will enhance safety and free up road traffic officers for other duties.

Around 20 collisions occur each day in Northamptonshire and sadly 36 of these incidents result in fatalities each year. These serious incidents, where life threatening injuries or fatalities occur often, result in roads being closed for extensive investigation. At present up to 5 cars and 10 officers attend a serious incident which requires each closure point to be physically manned.

HRS advance warning system allows officers to quickly deploy Intellicone® Portable Site Alarms at each closure point. These devices can prevent errant vehicles from entering the potential crime scene by using built in audible visual alarms. If the closure point is breached a warning is sent directly to the investigation scene so those gathering vital forensic evidence can move to a place of safety.

The HRS digital platform also offers the Control Room & Response officers notifications confirming when and where a breach into the closure has occurred.

With ever-growing demand on Police Forces to respond to an increasing number of emergencies HRS is hopeful that technology can play its part not only to keep the investigators safe, but to free up their valuable time to assist others that need their help.

We spoke with forensic investigators during recent training who confirmed:

“It’s not unusual for members of the public to move cones and seek benefit by entering closures undergoing investigation. These incursions threaten the lives of those forensic investigators involved who are often concentrating on the crime scene and could be underneath vehicles without visibility of the hostile vehicle approaching.”

During an agreed 6-month pilot both Northamptonshire Police and HRS will work together to complete extensive investigations into unmanned road closures and how digital solutions can improve safety and efficiency.

If you would like to learn more about the products Northamptonshire police are using, please contact us at [email protected].