POLICE in Herts have been given £1.9 million to invest in hand-held computers. The move comes after Herts Constabulary had success in a bid for Home Office cash. Herts police will share in a £50 million package which has been allocated to the National Pol

POLICE in Herts have been given £1.9 million to invest in hand-held computers.

The move comes after Herts Constabulary had success in a bid for Home Office cash.

Herts police will share in a £50 million package which has been allocated to the National Policing Improvement Agency.

In recent months, Herts police has been a pilot constabulary which has been involved in officers using hand-held personal digital assistants.

Yasmin Batliwala, of the Herts Police Authority, said: "This grant will enable the constabulary to step up its work on cutting bureaucracy for officers."

Deputy chief constable Simon Parr said the introduction of the system would mean that officers would not need to return to a police station to carry out checks.

"We intend to change the way we do business, increasing our responsiveness and our visability," he said.

More than 1,000 systems have already been distributed to officers and the grant will mean a further 1,000 will be available. The plan, too, is to have 300 devices in police vehicles.

Cambridgeshire police, too, made a successful bid for a grant towards introducing the system.