POLICE vehicles headed for a Dorchester school to show students how cutting edge technology is proving vital in modern police work.

Five officers took a high speed pursuit car and a custody van to the Thomas Hardye School for the first in a series of films being made by students about the use of information technology by police.

Sherry Mathias, the school's ICT co-ordinator, said the project grew out of ideas discussed with Martin Baker, Dorset's chief constable, who is also a school governor.

She said: "The police use a huge amount of ICT in their work and this is such a good example. This first event is ICT on the move and we hope to look at other aspects such as ICT in the custody suite.

"It's caused a lot of interest - the students had a good look at the vehicles."

PC Mickey Finnigan demonstrated the wealth of technology packed into a BMW 530 high speed pursuit vehicle including the Automatic Number Plate Recognition device and equipment for recording incidents.

He said: "IT is a good tool for the work we do - it makes it easier for us and it's more effective.

"The cars are part of our road crime intelligence unit. It's not just about traffic offences - criminals use cars. They don't hop on a bus after committing a crime - they use a car that is probably uninsured and unregistered or stolen. We want them off the road and our IT helps us do that."

The officers also took a custody van and students saw a camera mounted on a headband that can be attached to a helmet to record images and sound during incidents.

PC Finnigan said Dorset had been at the forefront of using ICT in its work, leading the way for the past 20 years. His duties including training people from all over the world to use the technology pioneered in Dorset.

He said: "We're a small force and if you can't get enough officers on the beat then this is a way of taking the office to the beat. We were one of the first forces to use computers and IT - that was about 20 years ago. Dorset is leading the way."

BMW engineers worked with Dorset Police and with companies in Weymouth to design adaptations for IT equipment now known as the Dorset model and fitted in vehicles used in the UK and overseas.

Peter Roe, media spokesman for the school, said the films would be available for schools everywhere through the Films for Learning Initiative website.

He said: "We expect to have the first one on the Films for Learning website this summer. The students are making a series of films about the use of ICT in the workplace involving the police and key businesses in the town."