Northrop Grumman providing MPS' new command and control system
The framework agreed between the MPS and Northrop Grumman will enable the MPS to use the CommandPoin application at the core of its new command and control system, which is planned to go live in October 2015. Currently, the MPS handles between 12,000 and 15,000 emergency and nonemergency calls per day. There are more than 2,000 operators employed to answer calls and dispatch officers to incidents.
"This is an important award for us that acknowledges our leading capability in public safety command and control application systems," said Jim Myers, vice president and general manager, Cyber Solutions division, Northrop Grumman Information Systems. "We are very pleased to be working with the Metropolitan Police Service, and we look forward to building a strong partnership with them and delivering this world class capability."
The CommandPoint system is the latest evolution of a command and control application for public safety dispatch of the emergency services, including real-time resource management, geographic information systems and secure mobile information capabilities. Northrop Grumman has been providing command and control for public safety for more than 40 years and through four generations of systems, serving hundreds of customers including several of the largest US cities (Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Boston), and international customers (Montreal, National Police Service of Ireland and the London Ambulance Service). The London Ambulance Service successfully implemented CommandPoint last year as its new computer-aided dispatch system and brought it into operation before the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.
"We are pleased to be involved in this programme which we recognise as being crucially important to the Metropolitan Police Service," said Andrew Tyler, chief executive, UK and Europe, Northrop Grumman. "This contract award enhances the range of capabilities that we bring to our customers as we broaden our portfolio in international markets. We look forward to building on this success and to expanding our presence in this UK market."
Northrop Grumman is also the prime contractor and systems integrator for the design, development, installation, integration, operation and maintenance of IDENT1, the biometric identification and fingerprint database service for the police across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The MPS is the largest police force in the UK, accounting for nearly one-third of all police in Britain. This contract is part of the MPS' Command and Control Futures Programme, which will manage all incoming, emergency, nonemergency and internal calls, and is a cornerstone programme, contributing to a larger change programme across the MPS with the objectives of increasing efficiencies, reducing costs and improving services.
