The Metropolitan Police Service hopes to improve communication across the organisation after giving its director of information a seat on its management board.
Ailsa Beaton takes up her position following the appointment earlier this month of new police commissioner Sir Ian Blair.
She is responsible for providing all information, communication and technology services to the 45,000 staff who serve London.
Collecting and maintaining information effectively and communicating it successfully to officers was essential to effective policing, said Beaton.
Describing her new role as a significant step forward, she said it was “tangible proof” of the strategic importance of information and communications to the service.
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“We are continually developing and delivering policies and processes that enable our officers and staff to find new ways to manage and communicate information that will add value to investigations and improve the use of resources.”
The Met employs 30,235 officers, 11,966 police staff, 493 traffic wardens and 1,392 Police Community Support Officers.
