Better adoption of technology will ensure our police forces are on the same page, says Mick Creedon, a former Chief Constable of Derbyshire, now a consultant at the investigative software firm Altia.
As someone who has spent decades immersed in UK policing, both on the frontline and behind the scenes, I’ve seen first-hand the increasing strain on our forces. Putting it simply, the mission is growing. Officers face greater demands with fewer resources, increased digital evidence and more complex criminal activity, all under the spotlight of scrutiny, challenge, inspection and greater public and political expectations. As resources are continually stretched, technologically enabled crime adds to the demands, yet technology can also assist and enable policing and investigations, reducing demands and driving efficiencies.
Yet forces are still operating with outdated systems, fragmented data, and a culture of technological inertia. One of the most persistent issues is the existence of silos of disconnected forces, departments or systems that don’t communicate and share data efficiently. Police forces have been long grappling with this challenge, especially without funding and specialist technical expertise. The reality is that silos aren’t just inconvenient; they actively undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in its mission of protecting the public and challenging criminality. That’s where technology plays a crucial role.
Varying systems are hindering progress
Whether it’s intelligence, case management, or financial investigations, different departments within the same force often run separate IT systems. I’ve worked with forces where one department had access to modern case management tools, streamlining the cradle to grave investigation and case building process, while another working on complex investigations still relied on outdated software. In some instances, I’ve seen departments within the same force pay separately for the same tool, which is financially inefficient.
Fragmentation in forces around the procurement and deployment of essential technology leads to duplicated effort, missed opportunities, and ultimately wasted time and money. In addition to the challenge of forces having the best ICT strategy, problems and a collective resistance often compounds the issue as officers can tend to be reluctant to adopt new technology. It’s not that they’re unwilling to innovate—far from it—but when faced with complex, non-integrated systems and insufficient digital training, it is not surprising that they stick to what they know.
I liken policing and technology to driving an old car. It may be old, but it reliably gets from A to B, guzzling fuel with occasional breakdowns and sometimes slowly – and ‘we like it.’ The reality is that the old car has had its day, as for the same investment there is a new model with increased functionality, and an extended manufacturers warrant and ongoing support. It’s cleaner, more efficient, easier to drive, faster and able to upgrade whenever necessary.
The good news is that the right technology can address these problems if implemented strategically. Holistic, integrated platforms like Altia’s HQ solution are specifically designed to unify operations, reduce duplication, and enable seamless information sharing across departments. The world of intelligence, investigations and case building is complicated one. Each investigation is different, almost all with a digital element, but for the modern investigator, the essentials are the same. The Altia solution offers potential for an integrated suite of products that can cover intelligence development, covert activity, financial investigation, crime in action management, digital analysis, open-source mining, transcription and case management, even including post-conviction asset recovery.
By replacing isolated tools with comprehensive platforms, police forces can streamline workflows, eliminate redundant costs, and improve collaboration across teams, while working with providers to drive out procurement and renewal efficiencies through innovative enterprise solutions.
Tackling immediate challenges
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) recently laid out a clear vision for UK policing by 2025. It emphasises the importance of data, digital innovation, and interoperable technology to support better decision-making and frontline effectiveness. To achieve this, we must confront the uncomfortable truth that too many forces are shackled to legacy systems, siloed processes and are failing to optimise the technological opportunities that can empower and enable officers and staff.
One of the most obvious barriers is that budgets are tight and will remain so. Understandably, forces are wary of investing in new systems without guarantees of success, yet this caution often results in more waste. Another barrier is that policing has always been a practical, boots-on-the-ground profession and at times is inherently conservative. Today’s policing requires digital confidence, strategic thinking and innovation. Modern day policing is populated with enthusiastic and digitally capable officers and staff, who should rightly expect their workplace to offer the same standards as they see in the outside world.
Technology cannot be an afterthought
I joined a policing world taking the first baby steps with technology, when the PNC was young and notions of mobile phones, handheld devices, body worn video and artificial intelligence were not even thought of – something for the TV and imaginative boffins. Today, technology cannot just be a nice to have for modern policing. It must be embedded into the DNA of our police forces, directly impacting thinking, planning and operating systems.
Our Altia HQ platform is built to integrate data, streamline investigations and provide officers with a single source of truth. It saves time, reduces errors, and allows policing to spend more time and resource protecting the public and challenging the criminals. It also makes it easier to access carefully chosen AI capabilities that have been assessed against investigative needs. These can be added, if required, based on your force’s approach to AI. This ensures ensuring flexibility while maintaining focus on operational integrity.
The Vision for Policing in 2025 talks about empowered officers, digital innovation, and a policing model that is fit for the modern age. To get there, we need more than vision, we need strategic thinking that meets the operational and commercial world, coupled with innovative and decisive action. Police forces can be a challenging and demanding customer of technology, but they must also break down the silos, embrace interoperable technologies, and resist the temptation to cling to legacy systems simply because they are comfortable, familiar and ostensibly cheaper.
