Three million criminal records now held on microfiche will be entered
into the British Police National Computer within two years. Once the system,
called Phoenix, is complete the police will be able to narrow down searches:
for example, they could find the names of individuals with convictions for
sexual assault who have blond hair, are aged between 25 and 40 and live
in Kent.
Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, says Phoenix 鈥榳ill become one of
the police鈥檚 most valuable resources in the fight against crime鈥橳igers in
print