1. PRESS RELEASE
Western Australia Police Service sign contract
for ABM’s Witness Protection system
Nottingham, 27th October 2009 – Western Australia Police Service (WAPS) has signed a four year contract
with covert policing software specialist, ABM, for the provision of abmpegasus Protected Persons. Part of
the abmpegasus suite of cutting-edge covert management tools, the solution will provide a sound
management and recording tool for day to day activities while supporting protected witnesses. WAPS is
responsible for policing the largest, single police jurisdiction in the world, comprising 162 police stations and
covering 2.5 million square kilometres.
Chris Dawson, Deputy Commissioner (Operations) at WAPS explains: “Previously we used an in-house
developed system which became outdated and reached the end of its operational life. We needed a
commercially available, best practice solution that would help deal with recording details and sharing
information in a secure environment. After a thorough review of the global market, ABM was identified as
the only solution provider to meet all of our business needs.”
abmpegasus Protected Persons helps ensure that
matters pertaining to witnesses are appropriately
recorded and managed. At the beginning of each
case, a policy log is automatically created, so that the
management team can chart the case, record and
manage risk and identify appropriate control
measures. In cases where risk is escalated,
abmpegasus automatically notifies senior
management.
abmpegasus Protected Persons also records financial
transactions with protected witnesses including
details of payment made, supporting reasons, and
the officers making payments. It also has a
comprehensive index and search facility for rapid retrieval of any entry within the system.
Commenting on the new partnership, Sue Grewcock, Professional Services Director at ABM comments: “The
standardised processes in abmpegasus facilitate best practice procedures as well as ensuring adherence to
legislation. Overall administration time is significantly reduced so WAPS’ officers can spend their time where
it is most needed rather than being slowed down by unwieldy paper based routines.”
The comprehensive, integrated solution supports a wide range of WAPS’ operational policing procedures in
compliance with the WAPOL Intelligence Model, Witness Protection (Western Australia) Act 1996 and local
legislation, while ABM’s ongoing support and development of the module will help WAPS meet future
changes in best practice and security requirements. Providing risk management oversight and greatly
enhanced auditing, the solution will help keep WAPS fully compliant with legal obligations governing
discovery and disclosure under Freedom of Information (FOI) standards. With implementation due to
begin in November, abmpegasus Protected Persons is expected to go live at WAPS in December 2009.
www.abmsoftware.com