| 2025 Law Enforcement Outlook 6 Key Findings Modern investigations require gathering and analyzing volumes of digital data such as communications records, images, videos, documents, social media and more. 46% of LEAs report challenges with both gathering data for court-admissible evidence as well as then analyzing it to generate intelligence and insights, while an additional 33% of LEAs specifically say that analyzing the data is the most challenging part of the process for them (Figure 7). We took a closer look at LEAs reporting that generating intelligence and insights is most challenging aspect for them by their ability to successfully resolve investigations in a reasonable time frame (Figure 8). We see that analyzing the data is most challenging for those organizations who are never or rarely able to resolve their investigations (48%). Clearly, analyzing data is a key stumbling block, and the more effectively LEAs are able generate intelligence and insights from digital data, the more successfully they succeed in resolving investigations. LEAs report that the leading non-technological roadblocks leading to delays in investigations is the lack of cooperation with other agencies (37%), tied closely with the lack of collaboration within organizations (30%), as seen in Figure 6. In today’s world, crime knows no limits, with criminal organizations not only committing a wider range of crimes, but also increasingly conducting their illicit schemes across international borders. This is proving challenging for agencies used to operating within fixed borders, both within their own organizations – due to siloed teams and data – and when it comes to sharing information with other domestic and foreign security organizations in a timely manner. LEAs also report that their investigations are delayed due to staffing issues, including lack of staff with relevant skills (33%) and staff shortages in general (32%). LEAs anticipate that the technologies that will be most impactful in accelerating their investigations in the coming year are AI-powered predictive analytics (48%) and GenAI for data exploration and analysis (47%), as seen in Figure 9. Unsurprisingly, it’s the largest organizations that see the most value in AI (Figure 10), because they typically have more data at their disposal, and are generally better equipped to adopt and successfully use advanced technologies. 4 5 6 Gathering data isn’t enough - 79% of LEAs struggle to unlock the insights they need Lack of cooperation and collaboration top the list of non-tech barriers to effective investigations LEAs see predictive analytics and GenAI as game-changers for accelerating investigations