Words from the editor
At the beginning of my tenure as Police Chief Scientific Adviser, I spent a great deal of time talking to talented individuals across policing about what was working and what could be improved. Often the observation was: we are excellent at innovation, but not very good at telling people about it. Sometimes ‘people’ meant colleagues in other forces. Sometimes ‘people’ referred to the wider public and the importance of transparency and sharing our efforts.
It is this reflection that led to ‘Engage widely’ being the first pillar of the national science and technology strategy. We must engage widely with our communities and stakeholders, be open about the challenges we face, and transparent about the capabilities we are developing to protect the public.
And so, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Policing Tomorrow, the first edition of policing’s flagship science and technology magazine. This magazine has been designed to give a voice to the vibrant community in policing who are all working towards achieving the same goals – a science led police service which can better protect the public. I hope over time the magazine will become a valuable way to access and learn about the contribution of S&T to our service.
The theme of this first edition is timely as we welcome a new government into Whitehall. The collaborative and cross-cutting nature of the ‘Take Back our Streets’ mission chimes closely with how policing, industry and academia already work together to prevent crime and reduce harm. The topics covered in this issue, including the prevention of violent crime against women and children, antisocial behaviour, and knife crime, are areas where innovation is making
significant contributions.
This magazine gives just a taste of the activities ongoing to improve policing. My sincere thanks to Rosie Power and the team for collating this first issue, and importantly to the many innovators across policing whose research, analyses and technologies are bringing groundbreaking efficiencies and capabilities to today’s policing.
Welcome to the first edition of Policing Tomorrow. This first issue has been an experiment in storytelling for a field of science that often confuses and beguiles people. The science of policing is wide reaching in its impact across society, particularly fuelling the imagination of policing procedurals, detective novels and the futuristic musings of science fiction. But, with a federated model for policing, the science we are investing in can feel shrouded in mystery for police officers and staff, let alone the public. This magazine will hopefully shed light on the actual science behind technologies policing uses today, and the potential it holds for policing tomorrow.
Given the horrific crimes that have taken the headlines in the past year, and NPCC’s estimation of over 1 million VAWG related crimes recorded during 2022/2023, it has never been more important to invest in the prevention of crime and reduction of harm. This edition gives you the strategic view of S&T’s use in prevention from CC Serena Kennedy, the National Prevention Lead, and several leading academics on page 9. There are also examples of deeper dives into new technologies and research policing have invested in to combat crime, for example, a knife AI recognition system utilised by the Met Police, and Dr Paul Martin’s view of reducing insider personnel risk in large organisations.
Finally, I have been struck by the tenacity and passion of people working across the system to serve the public, and the willingness to share their stories. This edition has highlighted how policing has benefitted from partnerships with equally passionate academics who can help embed the best science into prevention. I encourage you to read Professor Simona Francese’s experiences of working with policing, demonstrating how taking risks and embracing failure can ultimately lead to positive results.
A special thanks to Dr Hannah Jade Parker, and Lucy Pennington, Russell Stearman and Anne Clarke from Four Communications for the production of Policing Tomorrow.
