Insights from the Police Science Council: September 2024

The Police Science Council (PSC) navigated the complexities of the UK’s transport networks by opting for an online meeting in September 2024. The PSC members were delighted to welcome Alex Murray, the NPCC lead for AI, to the session. The meeting proved highly productive, sparking insightful discussions and future actions.
The Complexities and Challenges of AI in Policing
Alex Murray provided an engaging overview of strategies for embracing AI within policing, highlighting its potential to improve productivity, support threat forecasting, and enhance operational effectiveness. However, it became clear that realising these benefits while mitigating AI’s potential drawbacks leaves many questions unanswered.
These insights led to several valuable discussions. Topics included the potential alarm caused by the term “AI", ways to allay public concerns over AI integration, the importance of human oversight in AI-driven decisions, and methods to engage communities on AI usage. Other issues raised involved bridging the skills gap in AI and modelling, managing the fast-changing public sentiment towards AI, and leveraging cloud providers to build more robust AI frameworks.
Members suggested engaging broader community partners and stakeholders for ongoing co-production and guidance to shape these strategies. These discussions underscored the immense potential AI holds within policing and highlighted parallels with other sectors, emphasising the importance of collaborative thinking.
Exploration and Understanding of Diversion Programmes
As part of an academic-led exploration into diversion programmes in policing conducted in collaboration with the NPCC lead for Out of Court Resolutions, the council was given access to preliminary findings. Initial surveys of police forces reveal that effective diversion strategies can be beneficial, though evaluation remains limited. Members recognised that the evidence base on diversion strategies needs further development. Council members offered support for ongoing work and raised concerns over issues such as prison capacity, the accessibility of diversion avenues, disparities in funding across different diversion groups (e.g., women, youth), and challenges facing vulnerable individuals. These initial findings have identified significant gaps, and further activities beyond this scoping exercise are underway.
Digital Forensics Update
Digital forensics, previously discussed in council meetings, was again brought to the (virtual) table. The demand for digital forensics within policing continues to grow and remains expansive in scope, calling for a substantial transformation. Ollie Whitehouse provided an enlightening overview of the challenges and key focus areas for advancing this field.
How to drive this change remains a pressing question. One potential approach discussed was investigating the current funding landscape and whether existing UKRI research bodies cover this remit; collaborations with complementary specialities could add substantial value. Determining the “who” behind these efforts is equally complex: Who should invest? Who should coordinate? Who possesses the requisite capabilities?
To address these questions, the council aims to develop a vision paper that clearly outlines the objectives for digital forensics (DF), alongside the resources and steps needed to enable DF transformation. This vision would serve as a roadmap for aligning policy makers, funders, and decision-makers to meet the demands of this rapidly evolving sector, similar to the field of AI, and help build the necessary competencies.
Taking Back Our Streets
The final topic on the agenda was Labour’s manifesto, “Taking Back Our Streets,” which focuses on public safety and restoring trust in law enforcement. Paul Taylor summarised the manifesto’s core objectives, which include tackling antisocial behaviour, reducing knife crime, enhancing police performance, and increasing visible neighbourhood policing. The discussions underscored the need to move away from siloed approaches and instead tackle these priorities through a systems approach. This raised questions around aligning work with these mission objectives, sharing information across governmental bodies, and establishing clear outcomes and accountability.
Suggestions from members included hosting mission conferences and future-focus events to identify completed work and outline next steps.
Finally, the council recognised and praised Stacey Rothwell’s achievements, celebrating her 2024 Government Science and Technology Innovation Award – a first for policing. Congratulations, Stacey and the policing community!
Until the next meeting.