NSW Police has scrapped a $177 million contract with Bezos-backed software provider Mark43, again stalling a system-wide upgrade from the ancient but aptly named COPS (core operational policing systems).
iTNews reported the contract termination with the US technology provider.
NSW Police confirmed to Crikey the contract had been terminated but said the decision would not affect police operations or public safety.
“NSWPF remains committed to modernising policing operations with new technology platforms that will make it faster, simpler, and safer for officers responding to emergencies and investigating crimes across NSW,” it said.
The contract was signed in March 2021 and the software was to replace the force’s existing policing system which is used for criminal investigations and forensic analysis.
iTnews reported that the contract termination coincided with a round of redundancies at Mark43’s Sydney office last week.
NSW Police did not comment on why the US provider had been abandoned, what work had been done by Mark43 since it was enlisted, what would become of this work, and what would come next.
This is the second technology provider that has been green-lit by NSW Police and then dumped. Accenture was the first. With it went NewCOPS.
I guess developers are struggling to produce a platform that allows the user to type only with one hand while eating donuts with the other.