Scots police awarded cash for hand-held computers

ALL of Scotland's eight police forces will benefit from a government grant to increase the number of hand-held computers issued to officers.

The Westminster government recently pledged £50 million to provide 10,000 of the devices to forces across the UK. Police forces from across the country were asked to submit bids to the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

It emerged last night that all of Scotland's eight forces have been granted a share of the money.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, claimed last year that the devices, linked to main systems and databases, could cut average paperwork by 99 minutes a shift.

But police chiefs had said many forces had been disappointed after demand for the hi-tech kit far outstripped the number being supplied by the Home Office.

Tony McNulty, UK police minister, said. "It is just one of a range of improvements we are delivering to cut unnecessary bureaucracy, exploit new technologies and enable police officers to spend more time on front-line policing."