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THEFT-TRACE CASE STUDY - Blackburn Unitary Council - September 2004
The Client
Beach Partnership, a properly constituted community umbrella organisation working to develop the social, recreational and economic status of East Blackburn was one of the successful bids to carry out a pilot project aimed at supplying computers into 2,500 homes in area for which it is responsible.
The ‘Wired Up Communities Project’ was to provide an Internet ready PC and associated equipment together with three months Internet access throughout their community under the government’s aim of bridging the ‘digital divide’. Capital funding was provided by the Department of Education and Skills for twelve months; Beach Partnership was able to gain additional SRB and ERDF revenue funding that allowed the project to continue for a total period of three and a half years.
The Requirement
Beach Partnership have a good local knowledge of the area in which the computers were deployed and immediately knew that they faced a potential risk of theft or misuse. The area, one of deprivation, is subject to a high turnover of residents and had a number of crime reduction initiatives in force. The Project Executive Board took an early decision to seek out the best possible solution to this problem. The software tracking licences offered a simple, cost effective remedy that would allow the hardware supplied by the Wired Up Communities project to be kept under constant observation.
The Solution
All 2,500 computers were equipped with the software tracking system, which allows use of the computers to be monitored as soon as an Internet session commences. The project team at Blackburn kept strict tabs on movement of PCs, telephoning residents as soon as any unexpected activity was monitored. This action had a dual benefit: not only was the computer’s whereabouts tracked, but the user knew that the Project Officers were aware of their location, as Rita Boyd explains: “People soon learnt that we were notified every time the PC was connected to the Internet and this acted as a deterrent to potential theft. During the project we had a substantial amount of ‘alarms’ but only one occasion on which we needed to ask the police to recover a PC.”
The project is drawing to a conclusion, but its success is evident from the number of PCs distributed and the duration of its course. Access to computers has allowed children and students to gain information from the Internet for school and college work, as well as improve skills and learning opportunities for adults. The software tracking system has enabled this to be done in a safe and secure environment, bringing benefits to all those involved.
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