Update from the Police Science Council

Scientific Advisory Councils provide essential independent specialist support to government departments. For policing, this group is the Police Science Council (PSC), a publicly appointed, independent expert committee that brings together world-leading science and technological expertise from across academia and industry to advance law enforcement practices. In this update, the PSC Secretariat lead, Michael, reflects on the activities of the council over the last six months.

As March arrives with its first hints of Spring, I begin to prepare for the next Police Science Council meeting. It has been a very busy time for the council, with a diverse range of projects completed over the last six months.

Interest in the potential and use of AI has been under the spotlight across all industries. The Council has been advising the NPCC lead for AI on topics such as: ways to allay public concerns over AI integration, the importance of human oversight in AI-driven decisions and bridging the skills gap required to achieve this, and methods for engaging communities on AI usage.

The expertise of the Council has also been called in to address critical challenges in the fair and effective use of digital data within policing and the Criminal Justice System. They have been addressing the lack of understanding of highly technical digital evidence and how this information should be presented and interpreted within court rooms e.g. by juries.

More recently, there has been a flurry of activity on ensuring the service is fit for the future. The Council has:

• Advised on the future skills requirements of police officers and staff and how training might adapt to meet the changing needs of society;
• Reviewed the requirements to achieve a Digital Forensics service for policing that is best suited for the future;
• Developed a strategy for integrating early career researchers into the Council to broaden the future talent pipeline and to provide researchers with vital exposure to a senior scientific board;
• Provided recommendations for how to improve existing R&D funding routes and the mapping of S&T activity which currently exists for policing.

Since its formation, the PSC has played a key role in expanding the linkages between academia, government, and industry.  It has now been three years since the Council was formed - fresh challenges will certainly emerge as we begin to navigate a process of potentially historic police reform and rapid changes in S&T.