WPC Software of Keynsham near Bristol has announced the launch of TrakCS, a CS Spray Management and Tracking system for UK Police Forces.

The system has been developed in partnership with the Leicestershire Constabulary, which will be the first force to install the system.

The system allows UK Police Forces to meet the legal requirement to account for use of CS Spray under Section 5 of the 1968 Firearms Act in an efficient manner with force-wide access to the data over an intranet.

CS Spray canisters are now issued regularly to UK police officers for use as a potential incapacitant when an officer is involved in a violent situation. Since its introduction, CS Spray has played a large role in reducing the numbers of assaults on police officers.

The deployment and use of CS Spray is strictly controlled and as a result of this has until now, placed a considerable administrative burden on police forces. The tracking of the canisters is either done manually or semi-electronically at individual stations. TrakCS is an innovative new application that saves police forces' time and money by keeping track of all CS Spray canisters through their life history.

This includes delivery to the Force, the forwarding of batches of canisters to secure stores throughout the Force area, the issue of individual canisters to officers, their return, and their subsequent safe disposal.

TrakCS utilises the latest Internet Browser technology and allows restricted access anywhere on the Force's internal Intranet.

An optional link to police personnel records warns the issuing officer if the individual being issued with the canister does not have up-to-date training.

As well as providing a comprehensive audit log, showing the history of each canister, the system can also provide an officer history showing when officers have been issued with CS Spray and what happened to each canister. Online management tools allow senior police officers to monitor the use of CS spray by individual officers, police stations and policing areas.

Legislation such as The European Convention on Human Rights and The Health and Safety at Work Act is placing the emphasis upon Chief Constables and Police Authorities to manage the use of force in an accountable manner. An additional benefit of TrakCS is the degree of control and integrity that TrakCS brings to the management of CS spray.

Inspector Martin Mawby of Leicestershire Constabulary says;

"The management of CS Spray has not always been as good as it should be. TrakCS is an effective, easy to use system that does away with registers and ledgers, making the tracking and management process completely transparent. Police supervisors will now have real control of this process and access to quality information on the use of CS. Throughout this project WPC software have demonstrated a good working knowledge of the police business and a determination to provide a flexible and practical system. Leicestershire Constabulary is very pleased with the result.