POLICE officers are said to be saving an hour a day thanks to up-to-date technology which allows them to do more work on the move.

Sussex Police was given a government grant to help pay for e-notebook computers so they could carry out more of their paperwork out of the office.

Some 1,750 officers are now using the Airwave mobile Pronto e-notebook for tasks like vehicle registration checks, speeding tickets, and the paperwork which accompanies drink and drug-driving checks.

Surrey and Sussex forces have shared the cost of buying the devices using Home Office funding and the model is now being copied by other forces.

Surrey Police believe the technology has cut costs by £7million. Sussex Police has said it has so far been unable to quantify the saving it has made but Inspector Shane Baker, the force’s mobile policing project manager, said it is saving officers time.

He said: “Early indications are that officers save around an hour a day in time otherwise spent travelling and working from a desk. This time can be reinvested in the community, preventing crime and disorder.”

The technology gives officers access to local and national databases and networks while on their rounds. Insp Baker said they can access information at the touch of the screen rather than waiting for other departments to carry out checks. The information stored can be re-used later on for additional records rather than having to type out the details again.

He said: “It is now possible to remotely complete a crime report, witness statement, intelligence report and more on to police systems without returning to a police station. This keeps uniformed officers accessible to the public, protecting vulnerable people and preventing crime and disorder, whilst also allowing other investigating officers, such as detectives, to quickly access the information.”

Before Pronto, writing out a ticket would take back-office staff more than four minutes to transfer paper-based notes onto a force’s system. Now that process takes seconds as all data captured on devices is synchronised automatically, the company behind the technology has said.

Phil Jefferson, vice president of sales and service in the UK and Ireland at Motorola Solutions, said: “Pronto stops officers needing to radio or telephone the control room for basic information and systems checks.

“The system stops officers having to routinely return to stations and offices to submit information to back end systems, removing travel time and increasing visibility in the community as tasks can be simply completed on the move.”