Back in 2019, I had the pleasure of speaking to Merseyside Police about the work they were doing to transform how the force handles digital evidence. Hearing how they had shifted from a position whereby 90% of digital evidence needed for investigations couldn’t be accessed in a timely manner, to ingesting over 500,000 cases and 4.6 million searchable evidence items, was inspiring not only to me, but the many other forces that visited Merseyside Police, or contacted NICE directly to find out how they had made such quick and impressive progress.
In the time since Merseyside Police shared its experience as a pioneer of Digital Evidence Management (DEMS), the UK has been through a pandemic, four Prime Ministers and three Ministers of State for Crime and Policing. However, despite challenges and uncertainty, the pace of innovation and change demonstrated by forces in England and Wales is a real success story and today 18 forces and organisations are using the NICE Investigate DEMS. These include British Transport Police (BTP), Cleveland Police, HampshireConstabulary, Lancashire Constabulary, Leicestershire Police, Merseyside Police, Northamptonshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, Surrey Police, Sussex Police and Thames Valley Police, as well as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In April this year, we highlighted the scale of the progress many of these forces have made, when it was announced that NICE Investigate was being used by 50,000 police officers and had been used to manage more than four million investigations. Now, with more forces rolling out their DEMS and an increasing number of systems being added this figure will only grow faster and faster. One such project is taking place at Nottinghamshire Police, where once fully implemented, NICE Investigate will be rolled out to more than 3,200 officers and staff.
A few weeks after the Nottinghamshire story, we shared an update from BTP, a force that along with Merseyside, was one of the first to rollout NICE Investigate. BTP revealed that it makes 50,000 requests each month for CCTV from train operating companies, with 90 percent of the footage now being received electronically using its DEMS. A similar initiative is being driven by forces including Hampshire Constabulary, Lancashire Constabulary and Northamptonshire Police, to encourage retailers to register their surveillance cameras, to streamline the process of sharing footage.
In addition to improving how forces collaborate and support stakeholders and the business community, this year more and more forces have been taking advantage of the ability to use the system to conduct public appeals. Good examples of how these appeals can be used proactively to engage with the public came in recent weeks, with Thames Valley Police requesting information and evidence in relation to a case of assault and another regarding a robbery.
2022 has been a year that has seen many forces mature in their use of DEMS, whilst others begin their journey. What has been so rewarding is the willingness of forces to share their experiences, whether in case studies, testimonials or attending the in-person NICE User Group (NUG) meetings. In a video recorded at a NUG meeting in July, Detective Superintendent at Thames Valley Police and Co-Chair of the NUG, Craig Kirby, highlighted the importance of force collaboration and the progress that is being made in addressing digital evidence challenges. “The relationships we have got and the structures we have put in place have allowed us to take things forward. We’ve achieved end-to-end sharing now, the evidence is being delivered in to the courts, via the Crown Prosecution Service.”
However, it isn’t just about hours and money saved, with an attendee at the NUG explaining how NICE Investigate is enabling a blind member of their team to do a job they would not otherwise be able to do, without the assistance of a support worker. For everyone in attendance it was both inspirational and rewarding to hear.
Job satisfaction can come in many forms, and this struck me again, when I was invited to attend the Palace of Westminster, to meet with senior officers and policymakers. Talking to them about how precious time is being given back to frontline officers, and how our solution (NICE Investigate) is aiding the arrest, prosecution and conviction of serious criminals, as well as improving the relationship between within communities, instilled an immense sense of pride.
In what is becoming an annual tradition, we celebrated what has been a hugely positive 2022 by sponsoring and attending The British Police Symphony Orchestra’s (BPSO) at its Proms Night Spectacular! in Birmingham.
As we start 2023, there remains much work to be done if every force is to achieve the Policing Vision 2025but we are ready for the challenge, to help deliver this transformative change across the whole of policing.
