A CRIME-FIGHTING system being developed by three police forces has caught its first suspect.

Durham Police are working with forces in Lancashire and Cumbria to develop the Sleuth system.

Only two hours after a briefing about the system, officers in County Durham made their first arrest – of a man wanted for slashing a bus seat.

In Chester-le-Street, where a simplified version of the system is being tested, a response team was able to access the necessary information to identify and arrest the 27-year-old vandal.

Sergeant David Oliver said: “In the past, we have had intelligence systems where information could be weeks old.

Sleuth is current. It is what is happening now, not last week.

“However, that is not to say we ignore the historical stuff.

People who are wanted are not forgotten and the briefings continually outline the need for their arrest.

“Our arrest was a named suspect. Although his picture was not on the computer system at the time, his photograph was on the briefing room wall. It was good work by the officers involved and we believe the first success for Sleuth.”

The Sleuth computer reporting system allows officers to check incidents, crime and intelligence simultaneously.

Durham’s deputy chief constable Michael Barton helped to develop the system while he was at Lancashire.

Inspector Mick Button, business process project manager for Sleuth, said when the system is fully up and running it would be the perfect briefing and tasking tool for neighbourhood inspectors.

He said: “The system is different for each neighbourhood.

You can have up to five targets and with one click look at each person and learn what is required from an officer, who on ending a tour of duty can enter on the system what has been done, leaving the perfect audit trail.”

He said Lancashire Police had used the system for a number of years, but was working with Cumbria and Durham to develop it further.