North Wales Police have carried out a proof-of-technology project with a Silicon Valley hybrid-quantum computing firm. Their aim; to best place police vehicles for emergency response in the largely rural region. The force points to the ability to near halve the average incident response time. With D-Wave the force built and tested a hybrid-quantum application for “forward deployment,” the practice of strategically positioning officers in high-risk areas to enable faster response times, be visible, and deter crime. It reduced the time to coordinate vehicles from months to minutes. The test also showed that the force could respond to at least 90pc of incidents within their target response time using the hybrid-quantum application. A grant from the Test and Learn Fund from the UK policing’s National Science and Innovation Board helped.
Police view
Alistair Hughes, lead for analytics and AI at North Wales Police said: “Optimizing forward deployment is a challenge for most police forces. A reduction in response time can reduce crime, reduce offense escalation and increase public confidence. We believe D-Wave’s hybrid-quantum application could be scaled nationally to save time, reduce costs, improve outcomes, and lower our carbon footprint.”
And Dr Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave said: “As police forces increasingly rely on data-driven strategies to improve response times and coverage, hybrid-quantum computing can offer the speed, precision, and intelligence needed to identify optimal officer placements and enhance public safety. Hybrid-quantum computing is beginning to show real-world potential across private and public sectors, and we’re thrilled to see the potential for it to make a meaningful impact in forward deployment with North Wales Police.”
Visit www.dwavequantum.com.
Photo by Mark Rowe: Porthmadog police station, North Wales.
