Technology/equipment/services

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Today, digital transformation is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in policing and this includes transforming how police forces collect, analyze and share evidence. One digital evidence management trailblazer is North Wales Police. Using NICE Investigate, North Wales Police was able to digitally transform work processes around evidence collection and sharing, to help minimize risk of contact during the recent pandemic, while still continuing to provide the utmost service to the community and justice partners.

INNOVATION: The Government is currently piloting an algorithmic transparency standard across the public sector, with the aim of improving openness and public trust in the use of technology; a new research study has highlighted the potential benefits for policing of adhering to the standard, including greater public confidence, the sharing of best practice and reduced costs, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

Newsletter launch: Policing Insight has launched a new Daily Brief to help you keep up with links to the latest policing news, opinion, analysis, research and reports from the media and key policing organisations. The Daily Brief email is powered by our Media Monitor service which is curated throughout the day by our researchers - we 'Google' so you don't have to! Sign up today to be better informed.

INNOVATION: A start-up project pioneered by four UK universities is using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify patterns of tech-facilitated coercive control sent by perpetrators through text messages; researchers believe the project, which recently received a £115,000 funding boost from the Home Office, could develop an AI tool that will encourage more victims of domestic abuse and coercive control to come forward, reports Policing Insight’s Keith Potter.

FEATURE: Technological advances in extracting valuable knowledge and information from Big Data could deliver significant benefits for the security and safety of smart cities and their residents; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth explores a new European research and innovation project that is looking to maximise those benefits for all stakeholders, including policing.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Following the success of 2021, Helitech Expo is running under the management of multi-award-winning Fortem International for a second year!

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Like many forces across the UK Cleveland Police struggled to manage rapidly increasing digital evidence. The collection of CCTV video alone required thousands of trips each week - a huge time and resource drain. The force also needed to comply with national requirements around sharing digital evidence, which was moving toward a digital model. With NICE Investigate, officers can now collect and share evidence through a fully electronic process.

OPINION: In the same month that Lord Geidt resigned as ‘ethics adviser’ to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Government also published its response to proposals for the reform of data protection laws, advocating a seemingly light touch on the governance and scrutiny of the police use of technology; Dr Marion Oswald, Chair of the West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee, believes the two topics are linked by the importance of accountability and standards.

OPINION: Former police officer and police and crime commissioner Martyn Underhill urges police forces in the UK to adopt and exploit the potential of existing technologies and systems to keep pace in the digital world – particularly in the face of ongoing financial challenges and budgetary constraints.

FEATURE: The increased use of drones – including small, commercially available models – has been a key feature of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prompting growing concerns of the potential threat they pose in terrorist hands; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports on the latest European security efforts to train police and staff to tackle the threat.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: As a national force covering a broad swathe of rail lines and properties, the British Transport Police (BTP) faces unique policing challenges. That’s precisely why NICE Investigate is at the heart of everything BTP is doing to manage its digital evidence ecosystem moving forward. In the first of a series of case-studies highlighting NICE's work with UK police forces, read about how NICE is helping BTP streamline the flow of digital evidence and keep UK railways safe from crime, through digital transformation.

FEATURE: At last month’s Police Digital Summit in the UK, a panel of police, tech specialists and criminal justice stakeholders discussed how technology could help to meet the challenges of rape and serious sexual offences, and violence against women and girls; techUK’s Georgie Henley, who chaired the panel, highlights some of the key points from the discussion, and the collaborative approaches that can ensure improved responses in the future.

INNOVATION: With UK police forces looking increasingly to digital channels to expand and enhance public contact and service delivery, Suffolk Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones shares an innovative project offering a live chat service for victims of domestic abuse that has improved accessibility and consistency, strengthened support and generated the potential for richer evidence to support prosecutions.

OPINION: UK police forces are often confronted by generic administrative challenges and financial constraints, yet many opt for their own individual approach to dealing with such difficulties; Tim Scammell of software specialists SAP believes that by implementing the ‘adopt rather than adapt’ backroom mantra of many business organisations, policing could increase efficiencies and improve funding for the frontline.

FEATURE: Following the mass shooting in Munich in 2016 in which nine people died and thirty six were injured, the Bavarian Police began to examine ways of enhancing their digital radio communications to include visual information.

ANALYSIS: Last week, the Home Secretary announced that volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be authorised to carry Taser, but is it the right move and will it happen? Policing Insight's Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports.

INTERVIEW: Ahead of this week’s Police Digital Summit, and a year after his interview for CoPaCC’s Future Police Contact Management report, PSNI ACC Alan Todd, the NPCC lead for contact management, spoke to Policing Insight about the digital contact developments over the past 12 months, the challenges still ahead, and next month’s launch of a new British Sign Language video relay service for emergency calls.

OPINION: With two high-profile recent reports identifying the capacity, capability and organisational issues facing policing, it’s evident that more effective collaborations with industry partners will be essential to meet the challenges of digital transformation, as former chief police officer Paul Kennedy and Adrian Leer, Managing Director of Triad Group Plc, explain.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Salesforce is pleased to be a principal supporter of the Police Digital Summit 2022. Please come and say hello to us on stand 1 where we will be pleased to walk you through our end-to-end capabilities to help Police Forces with their transformation plans.

INNOVATION: With the continuing proliferation of technology and digital innovation across society, Tom Weeks, Technical Director of Informed Solutions, explores the importance of data science, standards, and citizen trust as drivers for sustainable policing success in a rapidly evolving digital world.

FEATURE: Greater use of data analytics in policing could offer significant opportunities to reduce crime, but the increased adoption of such technology is not without challenges; John Salt, CEO and co-founder of data recruitment specialists Only Data Jobs, explores some of the potential benefits of the new technology, as well as examples where law enforcement is already reaping the benefits.

INNOVATION: Having recognised the potential criminal threat from the use of drones, the INTERPOL Innovation Centre has now joined forces with law enforcement agencies across Europe to launch Project COURAGEOUS, an initiative to identify and assess the most effective technology to detect, track and intervene against illicit drones, as Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth reports.

OPINION: UK policing budgets remain under pressure, and spend on IT often takes the hit; but Simon Hall, CEO of police digital mobility platform PoliceBox, believes that approaching expenditure on Software-as-a-Service and cloud platforms as an operational rather than capital cost could overcome the budget barriers while also improving forces’ technological capabilities.

ANALYSIS: With artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly utilised in policing, regulation and governance of the new technology, as well as recognition of its limitations, will be crucial if communities are to support its wider use; Analyst Dr Teagan Westendorf of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute takes a closer look at the implications of AI for policing in Australia.