16 February 2004 – The Sussex Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) has launched a new project across the whole of Sussex which realises its vision to give emergency services, local authorities and community organisations tools for greater crime and disorder prevention and also reduce fear of crime and disorder amongst its citizens.

Involving over 1,000 partners, The Crime and Disorder Data Information Exchange (CADDIE) has gone live today at www.caddie.gov.uk, providing partner and public access to crime and disorder data integrated from emergency, health, social and other services, plus voluntary groups.

Previously a successful pilot scheme across Crawley Borough and Horsham District Council in West Sussex , CADDIE has now expanded across all of East and West Sussex Counties.

Believed to be a national first, CADDIE will enable its members to analyse the data and identify local crime and disorder ‘hot spots’ so local CDRPs will be able to work more effectively with community action teams to tackle problem areas. Partners will also be able to better allocate resources and spot trends allowing different strategies to be implemented.

“CADDIE is an excellent example of local partners working together to reduce Crime and Disorder and a real achievement for Sussex . Putting CADDIE on the Internet will allow the people of Sussex to see what is happening in their area, what the crime and disorder partnership is doing, and how they can get involved. As a result, the public will be better informed and this will itself reduce the fear of crime which troubles so many people even when crime is actually quite low,” explained Hugh Marriage, Regional Crime Director, Government Office South East.

CADDIE integrates data from the Police Force, Ambulance Service, Fire and Rescue Services, Youth Offender Teams and Drug and Alcohol Action teams. The data sharing issues are solved using Infoshare’s OmniData software which automatically cleanses, corrects, validates and geocodes all data and de-personalises it, providing privacy enhanced data essential to the success of the project.

“Infoshare played a pivotal role in the creation of CADDIE. The system wouldn’t work without Infoshare’s OmniData software – it’s the only way we can share data without breaching the Data Protection Act in terms of quality and de-personalising data,” explains project manager, Sergeant Tim Hemsley.

Sussex Police research shows that fear of crime by the public is between 30 and 300 times greater than the reality. CADDIE aims to dispel this myth by increasing public awareness and understanding of crime and disorder in their area, by allowing them to go online and:

• View thematic maps showing true picture of crime and disorder in their area
• Give feedback to partners on crime reduction projects
• Participate in polls and questionnaires relating to crime and disorder issues
• Obtain advice and information on crime and disorder and community safety issues

CADDIE not only provides partners with data analysis, ‘hot spot’ mapping and reports but also enables the direct inputting of non-crime incidents such as anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, or racial incidents that are not currently reported to the police. It is hoped that by using this, partners will obtain a clear picture of Community Safety issues in their area and be able to take action accordingly.

“There is a balance to be struck between public interest, civil liberties and privacy with innovative e-Government projects like CADDIE. Without transparent, accurate data sharing, the public trust would be lost and new services would fail,” explained Adrian McKeon , Managing Director, Infoshare Ltd.

Background Information
CADDIE addresses the following agendas:

Crime and Disorder Act, Police Reform Act, e-Government, e-Policing, Freedom of Information, Partnership working, Best Value, National Intelligence Model, Fear of Crime, Public engagement, Citizen Focus

CADDIE has been funded by:
PITO – Police Information Technology Organisation
ODPM – Office of the Deputy Prime Minister – E-Government
Via – ACCESS East Sussex , ESCC
GOSE – Government Office South East
WSCC – West Sussex County Council
WS CDRP’s – The Districts and Boroughs of West Sussex

CADDIE Project Board:
East Sussex County Council Community Safety and ACCESS East Sussex (ESCC IT)
East Sussex CDRP
Sussex Police
West Sussex County Council Community Safety rep and IT rep
West Sussex CDRP

For further information please contact:

Adrian McKeon, Business Development, Infoshare Ltd.
Tel: 0208 541 0111
Email: adrian.mckeon@infoshare-is.com