The Metropolitan Police has enlisted Systems Designers Plc as prime contractor in a UKP17m project to provide it with a computerised Crime Report Information System, CRIS. The system, to replace the Met’s current paper-based crime report system, will used an array of DEC VAXes and MicroVAXes running Relational Technology’s Ingres/Star. Some 30,000 police officers and […]
The Metropolitan Police has enlisted Systems Designers Plc as prime contractor in a UKP17m project to provide it with a computerised Crime Report Information System, CRIS. The system, to replace the Met’s current paper-based crime report system, will used an array of DEC VAXes and MicroVAXes running Relational Technology’s Ingres/Star. Some 30,000 police officers and civilian staff will have continuous access to the report system, rated at 19,000 transactions an hour, drawing information from 233 DEC MicroVAX IIs situated in 75 police divisions throughout London. Each MicroVAX will in turn be linked to a VAXcluster of eight VAX 8700 minis running the Ingres/Star database under VMS. Links will be made via the existing MetNet X25 network. Ingres/Star allows users to access data from any of the processors without saying where it is located. Each VAX 8700 will have 64Mb memory and access to 56 622Mb disk drives. The database will hold six years’ reports from all divisions involved, allow cross-divisional searching and updating, and back-up if a divisional processor fails: Systems Designers has a contracted switch over time of 10 minutes but expects it to be done in two – co-ordinate computer operations and produce central statistics. Divisional stations will store two years’ data on their 16Mb MicroVAX IIs with one to four 159Mb disks. Local police stations will get smaller MicroVAX configurations. System Designers won the pact in competition with CAP bidding IBM software, and Data Logic with Siemens kit. Terminal Control Units will come from UKAir subcontractor Lynwood Scientific Developments Ltd, Alton, Hampshire.
