Issue
I work for a consultancy and it used to be optional to set a police force for KeyACCIDENT databases. It isn’t optional any more? Why not? What should I do?
Solution
With the adoption of the STATS19 2024 format data in KeyACCIDENT, the police force(s) for the database are now critical for a number of functions, for example:
Global uniqueness
Not specified by the Department of Transport (DfT) until now, records can duplicate unless the collision year and police force are part of each reference – KeyACCIDENT has adopted this practice
Plotting options
Various plotting options now rely on the police force value being set for each database
Adding and editing records
To add or edit records, the police force is a critical part of the validation process
Custom fields
Custom fields are specific per police force
Deletion records
The deletion records created by DfT require police force values
Search for Out of Police Force Area
This is a new feature within the Search Wizard and identifies records outside of the database police force area(s) -t cannot work without the police force(s) being specified
I don’t have a separate database for each client – what should I do?
If you have to use the same database and importing data separately for each client, you can set a different police force each time you import data for a new client
In the Database module, go to Tools > User Settings > Options
From there, you can select Police Force and the relevant police force from the dropdown list
If your client’s data covers more than one police force area, select Highway Authority and pick the relevant national highway authority – if none apply, pick Other Authorised Entity
Then tick all relevant police forces from the list below, as relevant to your client’s data