THE movement of North Yorkshire's 1,600 police officers are to be tracked by computer technology to improve their efficiency.

Police chiefs expect the Qlikview business intelligence software, which analyses beat officers' activity during their shifts, will go live across the force by the end of this year.

Each officer will log in with their own code each time they begin a shift, which is entered onto a force-wide command system, which then tracks each officer's movements.

This allows control room staff to check where officers are so they can mobilise the best units to deal with incidents.

The force says it will increase the amount of time officers spend on the beat.

Detective Superintendent Ken McIntosh, of the force's York control room, said: "We do not think we are as efficient as we can be, and providing a better service to the public is one of the areas where we see ourselves improving.

"The process has been revealing, since all the supervisors in the control room were telling me that they had a lack of resources, while Qlikview was able to highlight where there was slack."

An initial trial, which began in February, was monitored in one of the force's two control centres.

It meant managers could redeploy officers where they were most needed.

Two members of staff employed to take calls have already been transferred to other duties since the technology was introduced.

Mark Botham, chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, has welcomed the move.

He said: "I don't think it's a problem and in some ways it enhances officer safety.

"I have had no complaints whatsoever from members about it and we are happy to use it."

It is the latest recent technological move by the force, which recently spent £3.6m on handheld computers for its officers.

The devices are carried by patrolling officers and allow them to instantly check crime records.