11 November 2024

From issues with outdated legacy systems, complex procurement procedures, fragmented data-sharing protocols, and a lack of digital knowledge and skills at all levels, there are several challenges slowing technology adoption.

Virgin Media O2 Business’ recent consumer research revealed that two-thirds of Brits feel UK police are lagging in tech investments to protect public safety, improve crime prevention, and strengthen emergency response capabilities. With nearly half of Brits believing technology could help police considerably improve emergency response times, the report outlines a strategic roadmap for UK police forces to leverage technology more effectively. The improvements outlined following consultation with a range of policing stakeholders will enable officers to work more efficiently, empowering them with real-time insights to enhance public safety and foster stronger trust within communities.

The report includes the following key recommendations:

• Establish a Single National Enabling Body for Police, Digital, Data and Technology: Bring together disparate national institutions in policing into a single national home for policing in England and Wales with a clear strategy and simple governance. This would allow local innovations to flourish while creating a framework to scale promising new ideas and ensure they can be implemented more quickly across policing.

• Develop a National Strategy for Interoperability: Establish a unified framework to improve data sharing and technology integration across all 48 police forces in the UK. Unified data standards would ensure seamless information flow, empowering officers to make better decisions in real-time. It would also help police forces scale and deploy new technologies, while eliminating reliance on legacy systems.

• Change the Leadership Culture: Foster technological literacy at senior and exec leadership levels, ensuring that decision-makers understand the benefits of innovation and act accordingly. This includes building deeper partnerships with private sector to allow confident testing and adoption of cutting-edge tech and creating robust training and mentoring programmes for officers and staff.

Implementing the report's recommendations could enhance the efficiency of police forces and improve public safety. For citizens, this would mean faster response times, smarter crime prevention and investigation, and safer communities. For officers and staff, modernised systems could reduce administrative burdens, freeing up more time for frontline duties and fostering a more collaborative work environment.

“As digital technology continues to evolve, it is critical that UK police forces keep pace with these changes to serve communities effectively. Having spent nearly two decades working in and with policing, I’ve seen first-hand the challenges of local, regional and national transformation. Ensuring that the basics are done right, such as leadership and knowledge, and network infrastructure and connectivity, is the backbone of the evolution and innovation needed in policing,” said Charlotte Hails, Policing and Justice Strategic Lead at Virgin Media O2 Business. “In the private sector, we have a critical role to play as an active strategic partner, providing police forces with real-world, outcome-based solutions that ensure officers have access to the right information anytime, anywhere, and can do their roles as efficiently as possible to best serve communities.”

"The reliance on outdated technology is one of the most significant barriers to effective policing today. When officers are equipped with tools that are far behind the times, their ability to perform their duties efficiently is severely limited. This report is a call to action for a paradigm shift that will enable our police forces to operate with the agility, efficiency, and effectiveness that modern policing demands,” said Dr Rick Muir, Director of the Police Foundation and author of the report.