Our response to The Times Crime and Justice Commission report
The Times Crime and Justice Commission – our response
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The College of Policing's CEO Sir Andy Marsh QPM, has called for the faster take-up of innovation and technology within the service and welcomed the introduction of a license to practise for policing.
Sir Andy Marsh QPM, attended the launch of the recommendations of The Times Crime and Justice Commission report into the state of the criminal justice system. He took part in a panel discussion on the future of policing and crime prevention. Other panellists included:
- Lindsey Chiswick, Director of Performance and National Lead for Facial Recognition at the Metropolitan Police
- Alex Lowe, Axon
- Richard Susskind, former IT adviser to the lord chief justice of England and Wales.
They discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve the criminal justice system, the rise of live facial recognition and data analytics for frontline officers.
The Commission recommended:
- An updated model of neighbourhood policing is required, informed by data and enabled by technology so resources can be most effectively deployed
- Live facial recognition technology should be rolled out and a clear legal framework put in place
- The bright spots of innovations including AI and digital processing tools, digital interview rooms, drones and rapid video response must be replicated across the country
- A new licence to practise should be created for the police, administered by the College with revalidation every five years, subject to an officer reaching the required standards, competency levels and qualifications to perform their duties
- A new National Centre for Policing, working alongside the College, should be created to provide a central resource ensuring the forces have interoperable systems
Technology advancements
Addressing the audience, Sir Andy welcomed the Commission recommendations and called for police leaders to be quicker and braver about the rapid development of technology.
There are a number of barriers to getting the best out of technology and placing it in the hands of our officers and staff. One of those barriers is the fragmented nature of policing and the 43-force model.
At Hampshire, I became the first chief in England and Wales to roll out personal issue body worn video. I very quickly realised unless there was a transformation of skills and a very open mindset about how this tech could be used to the benefit of the public, you are simply going to drop a very expensive trinket on officers to wear.
The big lesson is unless your leaders give your workforce the insight, the skills, and the aptitude to use technology, you are just going to spend a lot of money.
Sir Andy Marsh QPM
Innovation
Highlighting the levels of innovation which already exist within policing, Sir Andy said: "We don’t lack entrepreneurial police officers and staff who are prepared to try different stuff. The College’s Centre for Police Productivity identifies what innovations are going to change the game for policing.
But how are we going to supercharge them and inject these into policing at pace? We have almost 1,000 innovations, and the system is too fragmented with too many procurement strands.
This is why I particularly welcome the Commission’s recommendation about creating the National Centre which will work alongside the College of Policing to identify the things that are game-changing.
In policing we have been so observed and so criticised, we have almost become frightened of our own shadow. What we lack is the ability to identify things that work, procure them once, and get them out to all our forces in a much quicker time.”
Last year, the chair of the College, Lord Herbert of South Downs, Interim Director of the Centre for Police Innovation and Productivity Rachel Tuffin, and Sir Andy Marsh gave evidence to the commission.
