£50 million for 10,000 police PDAs...?

Question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7419676.stm

The most expensive rugged PDA I could find is £2,000, less than half what the reported order would suggest HMG paid.

So £25,000,000 has gone on porting existing software and spare parts?

Is it just me, or has someone made a HUGE profit on this...

Answer 1

I'd rather see more proper Police ( not PCSO's) employed instead of gadgets. The paperwork could be cut down by getting rid of all the non-Police forms, which is probably 3/4 of it.

Whenever public bodies spend taxpayers money, someone makes a killing along the way.

Answer 2

£5000 per unit to point of distribution does sound expensive. i'd have to hope that it includes some kind of IT support infrastructure installation in all police station also.

Unfortunately i wouldn't bet that it does, governments have been known to overspend on components in the past.

$500 nails anyone?

Answer 3

The will also make them rugged, and factor in training.

Answer 4

but you would get access to the pda that they will have .. top technology and all

and there is the software, probably in stations to interact instantly with pda's .. updates etc..

oh and dont forget the training to use them efficiently and correctly,

the adapter to fit them in vehicles etc etc

spares too

and the cost of putting them online