FRED Karno's Army came to mind when I read your article on the IT situation within Police Scotland ("IT mismatch hampers single police force with eight computer systems", The Herald, July 30).
One force with eight separate computer systems in 2014 is a disgrace and reveals the apparent ineptitude of management and the Scottish Government in failing to resolve this long-standing problem and backs up the claims by many that one force does not fit all.
The lack of ability to communicate between the former constituent forces in Scotland will not surprise many serving and ex-police officers, as this was a problem highlighted as far back as the 1980s when the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (Holmes) became the standard system used to link series and serious crime between forces.
The system was expanded UK-wide mainly as the result of the Yorkshire Ripper case when it was established that adjacent forces in England were dealing with a serial killer but were unable to form the link to the killer because they used a card index filing system or their IT systems could not "speak" to each other.
With the improvement in technology since that time it should not be too much to expect that Police Scotland might have an IT system which provides the whole force with the ability to communicate readily within itself and with others to the benefit of their officers and the public.
John M Wilson,
Police House,
Main Street, Houston.
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