NT Police announces completion of long-running upgrade

The Northern Territory’s long-running SerPro case management system rollout is complete, with the government announcing it is now in use by police across the territory.

SerPro, from Canadian provider Niche Technology, was chosen by the territory in 2018 to replace the legacy PROMIS system it had licensed from the AFP since 1999.

The replacement of PROMIS as the core case management database was first budgeted in the territory’s 2017 budget.

“SerPro will increase information available to police, reduce data input into multiple systems and automate data linkages,” Police minister Brent Potter said.

“This will enhance productivity and assist police, leading to improved public safety”.

A spokesperson for the NT Department of Corporate and Digital Development (CDD) told iTnews the changeover took place in November 2023.

According to Potter, 1200 police received “extensive face to face training coupled with online modules prior to the go live date.”

The training included staff from the AFP, SAFE NT and other agencies.

The go-live was, however, at least a year behind time.

In June 2022, minister for corporate and digital development Ngaree Ah Kit told a parliamentary committee [pdf] that “the project team is working together with NT Police sworn officers to put the finishing touches on the system, in readiness for a go-live later in 2022. I am pleased to say that the project is on track to be completed on budget.”

“For practical reasons, it is very hard to do that swap out in a modular way, so it will go live across the territory on a common date,” Ah Kit told the 2022 committee.

“That means we have to prepare police officers across the territory for a go-live on a specific day”.

The CDD spokesperson confirmed to iTnews the rollout happened later than originally expected.

They said the rescheduling was due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to allow additional time for face-to-face training time for 2000 users.

NT Police also wanted to apply lessons “learned from similar deployments in other Australian jurisdictions”.

Other police services reportedly using Niche Technology’s systems also include Queensland and South Australia.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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