Data Logic Ltd, headquartered in Harrow, Middlesex, is developing, for the 1990s, a new version of the Holmes computer – the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System – which supports the process of police investigation, and is used in every British force. The major catalyst for the original computer system was the the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry where it was said that he would have been brought to justice sooner if the police had had better facilities for storing, collating and cross referencing information. Investigations basically involve the process of collecting statements and sifting through them to see whether additional information is needed, followed by analysis of the information. The three key roles in a Holmes incident room are statement reading, where statements are read – by humans – and information relevant to the inquiry is highlighted and details of any further information to be obtained by the researcher is recorded.
Mac II, Sun 3/60
The information is then stored by the indexer on the Holmes database. With software development being relatively cheap and it being over five years since the first system went live, the Home Office feels that the present system needs to be updated with the aim of improving the man-machine interface, reducing the time taken by the investigation process, reducing indexing time, improving research, updating and accuracy of information and presentation by using graphical representat ion of events. Data Logic has been given a budget of UKP100,000 to research into the best way to improve the present Holmes system, where most processes are handled manually. A feasibility study for the project consisted of a number of parts. A survey, based on visits to eight incident rooms, gathered information on how Holmes was used in real life and an important finding was that indexing was seen as a bottleneck in all situations and an improved computer interface would make the system easier and quicker to use. A knowledge engineering consultant provided various recommendations for a design study, two of which were that the development should progress incrementally and that software should be structured so that presentation and input data be separate from the Dialogue Control and Database Access components. A test program has been written using SmallTalk-80 in conjuction with the Analyst tool for operation on a Macintosh II and Sun 3/160 workstation to show how some of the ideas for automation of these enquiry processes would work and how user interface techniques could be applied. Eventually a prototype will be installed in a small police incident room and the feedback from this will decide the future of Holmes 2. While the full evaluation is incomplete, the pilot study suggests that indexing appears faster, graphics as an aid to operation and research have been well received and electronic annotation of documents seems to offer advantages over the present manual system. Though it remains to be seen whether Data Logic will come up with a feasible and suitably cost effective solution for the Home Office.
