THE POLICE DATA CHALLENGE Copyright Policing Insight/Cognyte 2023 created significant demand for a prized skillset: “Years ago, it was great – we wanted police analysts and nobody else was really interested in stealing them. “But the labour market has changed; those analysts are skilled individuals who are now more and more valuable across other sectors, public and private. Analytics are now such a fundamental part of a lot of people’s business that we struggle to retain them within the law enforcement environment. “Public service pay and conditions are not as favourable as some private sector companies, so providing those skills, professionalising that skill as an analytical capability, and then retaining those skills is a real challenge.” New skills It’s a particular challenge that has been recognised across policing for some time, including in a number of reviews and reports. The Getting a Grip report published in July by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services identified investment in analytical capability as a “national priority”, but inspections had revealed “limited investment in IT systems and analysts”. The report states: “We found many forces needed to invest in both the number and the skills of their data analysts. The State of Policing 2022 report highlighted the issue of police pay in recruiting and retaining officers, and we recognise the effect of the pay gap between the public and the private sector for analysts.” Similarly, in her review of the Metropolitan Police Baroness Casey highlighted that “local policing has been fractured by the loss of skilled civilian staff, especially crime analysts and support staff”, and that “analysts have been subject to drastic efficiency cuts as a result of austerity,” adding: “Now, analysts can only achieve a fraction of what they used to.” But it’s not only analysts and their skills that are in short supply. “To be able to do everything that is possible, and understand how to get there, we need skills in our organisation to deliver that,” explained Thames Valley Supt Lewis Prescott- Mayling, “and that needs data science skills, it needs data engineering skills, it needs coding skills, it needs statistical skills, all of which we do lack. “We just think we need a lot more analysts; we do, but we need more of these other skills that aren’t old school analysts – these are new skills.” However, Supt Lewis Prescott-Mayling, who played a key role in establishing the Thames Valley Together platform, said that while those new skills were necessary, the traditional “Having grappled with the size of the data, the challenge is the skills to analyse that data in a way that is meaningful, whether to prevent or detect crime, safeguard a vulnerable person, or assist in tackling serious and organised crime or tackling organised exploitation.” CC Lisa Winward NPCC National Intelligence Lead North Yorkshire Chief Constable Lisa Winward, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Intelligence Portfolio Lead