Murder inquiry chief meets IT cops to big-up Visor

Police IT specialists have met with the head of the Soham murders inquiry, Sir Michael Bichard, in a bid to improve information sharing.

Bichard met the chairman of the Police Information Technology Organisation (Pito), Chris Earnshaw, to discuss the Violent and Sex Offender Register (Visor), which all UK police forces are now using.

In a press statement, Bichard said: "In many ways Visor is a model for developing IT solutions for government. It was business-led, involved users at all times and was project managed to a strict timetable. As a result there is ownership for it in all police forces and it provides a very efficient management and intelligence tool."

Developed by Pito, the national database was designed for managing sex offenders and others who cause harm to the public.

Pito said the database is helping officers to exchange information - such as previous convictions, photographs and even details of offenders' pets. Police said it is making it harder for offenders to move around undetected.

The Probation Service is expected to adopt Visor next year and a pilot is being conducted with the Prison Service. Other police units such as the British Transport Police, the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service will also have access to the database.