if you need urgent assistance with registering to use PVH Online, are having a problem changing your password, or simply logging-in, please email pvh@fits.uk.com for assistance (0800 to 2200 hours daily).
You must have a valid .police.uk email address to access this service (although some private police forces with other domain names are able to access the system). If you are a police officer or member of staff without such an email address please contact us for details of how to access the system.
We also extend use to prospective police officers studying a policing related subject with a view to joining the police. Please ask for details.
This service may be used by anyone from a subscribing Force, without charge. Use is subject to the User Terms and Conditions. You will be asked to confirm that you have read these.
Use of the Police Visual Handbook by a subscribing Force is in accordance with the Force Subscription Terms and Conditions.
Any police officer or member of staff from a non-subscribing Force may access the service on payment of an annual fee of £5.00. Payment is taken using PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to do so. The Personal Subscription Terms and Conditions apply. You will be asked to confirm that you have read these.
You must register, create a profile and request a password link be sent to your .police.uk email address. You must have access to the link contained within that email to complete the sign-up process and log-in. To activate the link you must have an internet connection available at the time you do so.
You do not need to be at the same computer used to receive the email in order to sign up. The email may be forwarded elsewhere to complete that process. We don't recommend that you complete the sign up process on a smartphone. However, once you have signed up, you may log-in to PVH Online on your smartphone.
In this age of extreme security consciousness, we have had to follow the advice given by ACPO regarding the security levels to be used to access the system. Your password must be of at least 10 digits, and contain at least 1 numeral (0 - 9), 1 uppercase letter (A - Z) and 1 lowercase letter (a - z), in any order.
An example of a good strong password would be 96aArt&£nx84"(gCG.
Do not use:
Do not use the same password as you use for a system at work. Whilst we have gone to great lengths to make PVH Online very secure, you should not use a password you use at work to access it.
You may log-in from as many computers and other similar devices as you wish. However, the Remember Me facility will only work when the device you are using will accept cookies and retain them when your session on that device is closed. You should not log out of any computer or device if you are using the Remember Me facility as this will terminate your session on PVH Online for that device and you will have to log in again the next time you use it. The majority of Force computers will not accept cookies, but those that do so may well clear them all when you log off. If that is the case we recommend that you sign in using your password when using PVH Online at work, but use the Remember Me facility when using the PVH Online at home and on your smartphone or tablet.
Should you experience difficulties receiving emails from us about PVH Online, or have problems accessing PVH Online on the internet, contact your Force Helpdesk and ask that they add @fits.uk.com to the list of non-spam email domains and pvhonline.org to the list of permitted websites.
If you still experience difficulties, please contact us direct.
You must create a profile which contains as a minimum your email address, and your first and last names. We would appreciate you providing details of your role, department and rank or grade. Reasonable approximations will suffice. We intend to use the information gathered simply to see who is using the service and who is not. This will allow us to better target the service to our users, and to establish why certain groups of prospective users may not be using it. For example, we might find that in one Force nobody from the Roads Policing Unit accesses the service, prompting us to ask why.
These details and any other information you provide will be stored and used in accordance with our privacy policy.
The Police Visual Handbook is suitable for desktop computers, in car units and handheld devices, such as smartphones and PDAs.
Once you are logged in, you may select the appropriate version by clicking on the icons: 
to select the desktop version, or 
to select the mobile phone version. When using in car devices, select the version appropriate to the size of display unit. In most cases the mobile phone version will be more appropriate. On the desktop version, the mobile phone icon appears in the centre of the home screen and at the foot of the left hand blue menu. On the mobile version, the desktop computer icon appears in the top left hand corner of the screen.
Desktop users should Log Out using the Log Out link immediately under the PVH logo in the top left corner. Mobile users should tap the Help button and Log Out via the final link on the Help and Support menu. Do NOT log out if you are using the Remember Me facility.
Your subscription to the PVH includes free use of any or all of our Apps. You may download them from the Google Play Store, iTunes and the Windows App Store.
As soon as you have downloaded the App and installed it you will have to sign in using your registered police email address and password before the App will download the content. We recommend that you download the content using wifi unless you have an unlimited data package as the content is approprimately 75MB.
Every time you open the App, provided it has a wi-fi or mobile data connection, it will auto-update the content. You will see a message at the bottom of the screen as it checks for new content, and if found, downloads it. It is possibe to force an update in the Profile menu option. We recommend that you reinstall the entire content (another option in the Profile menu) once or twice a year, or if a super-user, once a month. This ensures that old redundant files are removed and frees up general storage space on your device.
Please contact us if you experience any problems with particular smart-phones or other mobile devices, or if the page displays incorrectly on a desktop or laptop. Be ready to tell us the operating system and browser details.
These are:
These are: