£10m police database tracks violent offenders and paedophiles

A new £10m national intelligence database will allow police forces across the UK to share vital information on violent criminals, paedophiles and other sex offenders in the community.

The violent and sex offenders register (Visor) is a central system that replaces local, unconnected databases and paper files used by police forces to keep tabs on people with convictions for sex offences and violent crimes.

Public protection police officers can use the browser-based system to perform a local or national search of convicted offenders out in the community - based on any characteristics or distinguishing features, such as tattoos and scars, that a victim of crime may have described to police.

Visor holds information on around 50,000 individuals convicted of sex offences or jailed for more than 12 months for violence. Individuals who have not been convicted but are deemed to pose a risk to the community - such as those with sex convictions outside the UK - can also be entered into the database.

Visor has now been rolled out to all police forces in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A pilot of Visor is also currently being run in one prison and the system will be extended to the Probation Service in 2006.

Based on Web Logic Java 2EE, the system was developed by the Police IT Organisation, along with police officers and external consultants.

A web-service interface is currently being developed that will allow Visor to link with the Scottish Intelligence Database used by police north of the border, and there are plans to create an interface with the national police intelligence system that is due to be delivered by 2007 as a result of the Bichard Report into the Soham police investigation.

Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart, speaking at the Visor launch, said the system will reduce the amount of time spent by police officers trying to retrieve information on offenders from around the country.

"Visor is a real step-change in public protection. Visor provides online, for the first time, complete and up-to-date information on the country's most dangerous offenders. It will help to reduce reoffending, protect the public and save police time," she said.