THE POLICE DATA CHALLENGE Copyright Policing Insight/Cognyte 2023 “We’re a Niche force, so we have our data coming from our source systems, and put that through a dimensional model, which is a way to structure the data so you can query it a lot easier; we then layer it with the data supplied from the other strategic partners. “We’re taking data from source systems – from social care, or a prison, or a probation service – which is the equivalent of their Niche system, and we’re layering it together in an automated way, so automated extraction, automated cleansing, and automated products, to produce insights.” Using that predictive insight is one area where Chief Constable Lisa Winward, NPCC National Intelligence Portfolio Lead, and Vicky Hough, the Intelligence Portfolio Staff Officer and a former analyst, argue that “intelligence hasn’t fully reached its potential yet”. “At the moment it’s very reactive, in terms of intelligence being used in investigations,” said CC Winward. “I do think that’s where we’re going, that we will be able to risk assess somebody’s potential to commit an offence and wrap around an element of prevention.” However, they are both aware of the potential pitfalls of failing to fully explain such approaches. “The wording and the commentary around this is absolutely critical,” explained Vicky. “Preventing something happening in the first place [through] early intervention is what the public need to understand – and what that ambition is – as opposed to machine learning and the power of AI in terms of trying to predict patterns. “Because people read it as ‘predicting X is going to do Y at this time in this location’. It’s about how do we embed a whole systems approach to actually stop something happening in the first place?” “And wouldn’t it be great if we could intervene early?” continued CC Winward. “I’m talking about utopia here, but unless you think of utopia, you’ll never get there, will you? “Wales, as a collective, did a lot of work on adverse childhood experiences, using them as a predictor to which children would be at risk, or enter the criminal justice system, or be vulnerable of sexual exploitation. “So there are a huge number of predictors there. What’s missing at the minute is us intervening at the right time – and not necessarily policing, but the public service system intervening, knowing that all those predictors are there to stop that child ending up in that situation in the first place.” “Intelligence hasn’t fully reached its potential yet. At the moment it’s very reactive, in terms of intelligence being used in investigations. I do think we will be able to risk assess somebody’s potential to commit an offence and wrap around an element of prevention.” CC Lisa Winward NPCC National Intelligence Lead North Yorkshire Chief Constable Lisa Winward, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Intelligence Portfolio Lead