In Australia, all states and territories (other than the Australian Capital Territory) employ police prosecutors to work in their summary courts. These police prosecutors are almost exclusively sworn police officers who are trained to act as advocates in summary criminal prosecutions. Some police prosecutors hold legal qualifications; however, this is not a requirement to perform the role.
Police prosecutors instigate legal proceedings on approximately 95% of criminal cases on behalf of the police and various other government agencies. They provide advocacy services for domestic and family violence victims and are available 24/7 to offer operational legal advice to the police. This state police force has a number of prosecutors spread across the state.
“The DXC team was highly professional, accessible, and disciplined in delivering our outcomes while remaining flexible to our needs.”
A spokesperson from police
Business challenge
The criminal prosecution process can be long and complex and involves a host of people, ranging from investigators, prosecutors and court staff to the defendant and their solicitors. Following announcements of record investments in technology and modernising court complexes, this state’s justice department proposed reforms that required agencies to digitise their prosecution processes and IT systems to provide a more efficient, smarter justice system that delivers for the community.
Court appearances are often chaotic events requiring various resources including charge sheets, witness statements, photographic and other evidence, and additional documents. Most of these were managed in paper-based files and required considerable manual handling between police prosecution teams. Each morning, summary lists of matters being heard and every piece of information relating to each matter were printed out, bundled into a manila folder, and walked over to the court. Short-hand notes were taken throughout the day, case results were summarised on the front of each file, and folders were returned to the office for manual data entry.
Added to this complexity was the difficulty in searching and integrating evidence, sharing data with others,and the likelihood of individuals using physical storage to manage evidence. The influx of incoming data in siloed systems meant that the entire prosecutions process was cumbersome and time-consuming.
To meet the justice reform requirements and public expectations in a modern developed economy, the state police force sought a digital court matter management system to support its many police prosecutors. This project to digitise the entire prosecutions process and ensure efficient and effective matter management from the notice through to court attendance was critical.
Solution
Based on justice sector knowledge, an exceptional track record in delivering end-to-end Microsoft Dynamics solutions, and skills in providing business process change and system integration, the police selected DXC Technology to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.
Running on Azure, the cloud solution leveraged out-of-the-box functionality provided by the DXC Smart Government Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365. These modular Accelerators are part of the DXC Justice Case Management solution that addresses specific needs related to prosecutions and matter management. This includes support for standardised processes with the agility to accommodate variations in rules, processes and procedures that apply to different court systems.
A spokesperson from police said, “We selected DXC as our partner for their strong technical implementation and functional consulting capabilities and ability to link business processes to technology. The DXC team was highly professional, accessible, and disciplined in delivering our outcomes while remaining flexible to our needs.”
Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers a modern cloud-based solution to deliver robust data insight, new efficiencies, and automation. It provides a common data model with functionality that suits businesses with complex needs or those requiring advanced analytics. It also helps transform the business by breaking down data silos and unifying applications in the cloud.
The DXC Practice for Microsoft’s application of agile metholodgy enabled a fast and seamless implementation with technology matched to user needs. The solution was implemented over nine months with DXC able to translate the existing system’s look and feel to the new interface.
It’s a hectic environment in a busy magistrate’s court with many matters handled quickly, so the user interface had to enhance police prosecutors’ speed, accuracy, collaboration, and security. Utilising experience-based design workshops, DXC worked directly with users to design the interface. Users were delighted with the new solution’s ease of use in the courtroom — and this was instrumental in ensuring high user uptake and satisfaction.
Core business functions delivered to police include:
- Matter creation and management
- Court list work, brief and practice management
- Integration with operational policing systems
- Audit management, business reporting
- Mobile functionality so all matter is available for prosecutors online in court
“We selected DXC as our partner for their strong technical implementation and functional consulting capabilities and ability to link business processes to technology.”
A spokesperson from police
Benefits
Significant productivity improvements have been realised in moving from a primarily paper-based, manual system to a fully integrated digital design. The prosecutions team has increased throughput with reduced preparation time, and online digital files are searchable, easily retrieved, and sharable with required information accessible from an iPad in the courtroom. Digitising paper-based processes has also improved reporting, analytics, security and access around core case material, scheduling, and resource management.
Digitisation has offered the ability to introduce online workflows to expedite cases. Tracking and auditing cases as they progress through the system helps identify obstacles that can delay progress. Online access to relevant information means everyone involved in a case now has simultaneous access. This enhanced visibility enables all parties to arrive at court fully prepared, and minimises the chance of adjournments due to missing documents, information or people.
Online listings and calendar functionality bring together the information needed by court staff for efficient planning and scheduling. Cases can be assigned to judges using automated workflows, scheduling of trial dates and pretrial conferences can be managed, and the court-and-case calendar is integrated with the judge’s private calendar. This simplifies scheduling of subsequent hearings and enhances the court system’s public experience.
DXC supported the police in delivering this essential solution, taking a large workforce with local processes and procedures and standardising these across the state. Easy access to and management of relevant case information is provided through a consolidated case management system that ensures a single source of truth for police prosecutors. Integration with the core operational policing system enables police prosecutors to work more efficiently while collaborating to save time and costs associated with law enforcement.
The solution also supports the police force’s broader digital transformation journey while meeting public expectations of justice and governmental institutions in a modern developed economy.
The future
The cloud-based solution has the added benefit of regular software and security updates to ensure the system keeps pace with modern developments. By utilising the Azure platform, no infrastructure investment was necessary and the state’s police can expand and adopt new technologies to address future business needs as they arise.