Vitja IT system project prioritises actions to boost crime prevention

Publication date 3.4.2023 10.00
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National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen decided to proceed with the prioritised model regarding the Vitja IT system project. Development work will now focus on the desperately needed crime prevention functionalities in the existing systems used by the police such as Polo, the police information system Patja and the police online services.

The police have made this choice to try and ease the flow of cases under investigation and to manage massive caseloads. Based on staff feedback, the police intelligence system Poti will also be developed to make it more user friendly by improving the interface and search functionalities.

“The police operating environment has changed over the years and crime prevention needs increasing help from the field in dealing with criminal incidents. This is why we are striving to develop an operating model where a police patrol can process clear-cut, quickly-handled crime reports into a pre-trial investigation record in one go. This would avoid several different people having to study the same case time and again,” says Chief Superintendent Pekka Sallinen from the Vitja working group.

The National Police Board will continue studying the scope of the Vitja project and alternative technologies and strive to find the best solution for a challenging integrated system that will last for decades to come. The project should have been completed at the end of the current year but estimates now suggest that the project will complete in 2026 at the earliest and require more than EUR 30 million in extra funding.

The ready data models created in Vitja project will be able to be used in future solutions. Around 60% of the criminal investigation part of the project has been completed and purchases for this part will be suspended. Only development that will be useful going forward will continue.

Vitja has brought into use the police intelligence system Poti, which is also used by other security authorities. The project leadership has also overhauled the police electronic online services and the extensive pre-processing of crime reports.

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