Across the UK, forces and national enablers rely on science to deliver core investigative and operational capabilities, research new opportunities, challenge existing practices, and innovate to create new approaches. We use all the sciences and social sciences, caring as much about the psychology of bystanders and leaders as we do the mathematics of forensics and data science. And, we recognise the need to invest in and enable a specialist workforce—the science profession.

Much of this landscape is set out in force and national strategies, such as the National Policing Digital Strategy, the Forensic Science Strategy, and the Counter-Terrorism Policing S&T Strategy. The NPCC S&T strategy complements these delivery ambitions. It outlines our collective ambition for how S&T will underpin success and it describes a science system that is designed to accelerate, not stifle, local innovation and user-focused delivery.