Case Study: Police Digital Service cuts statement time from days to minutes and saves 25,000 officer hours with Adobe Acrobat Sign

Transforming Public Service Through Digital Policing

Police Digital Service (UK) partnered with Adobe to tackle slow, paper-based witness statement processes that delayed investigations, tied up officers, increased costs, and required in-person visits—challenges amplified by COVID-19 and the need for social distancing. The goal was to speed up statement-taking, reduce administration, enable remote work, and improve witness recall so more crimes could be resolved.

They implemented a telephone-based workflow using Adobe Acrobat Sign and Adobe Document Cloud so officers could draft, send and securely e-sign statements remotely (with PIN verification where needed). The change cut processing time from days to minutes, saved about 25,000 officer hours a year, delivered a 1,500% ROI, reduced face-to-face contact, improved evidence quality, and provided scalable, GDPR-compliant audit trails.

Police Digital Service

Simon Clifford

Director of Data and Digital