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"All frontline officers should have access to a personal digital assistant," says the Policing in the 21st Century report from the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Using a device such as a BlackBerry could boost the amount of time officers stay out on patrol by cutting their paperwork, the report claims. It goes on to note that 14,000 BlackBerrys are already in use by 28 forces across the country.

However, one stumbling block could be that seven out of ten officers surveyed in the Scottish Police Federation said PDAs made them less efficient. Another problem is that the cost of giving an officer a device for five years ranged from £3,000 to £6,500.

Since the publication of the Flanagan report on policing technology, 19 English forces have won funding for 10,000 devices. The Government has also announced another £25 million to fund 30,000 additional devices on top of the original £50 million.

The report also notes such technology could help avoid data duplication, as 70% of information is currently entered into policing systems more than once.