Updates from the Office of the Police Chief Scientific Adviser (OPCSA)
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), including the OPCSA, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have joined forces to boost innovation and seek out new ways to tackle crime. Together they have pledged £4.5m of funding for the creation of up to nine Policing Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACEs.)
The centres will improve connections between policing and academic researchers, bringing them together to share evidence and methods and shape practices.
It is hoped the centres can galvanise researchers, enhance the quality and scale of work in policing, and help establish new evidence-led methods for policing to tackle and prevent crime, build public trust, and improve the wider criminal justice system.
Each Policing Academic Centre of Excellence will be promoted across the policing sector as an accessible source of leading academic experts aligned with Policing’s Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) and evidence needs.
The universities selected for P-ACEs can be found on science.police.uk.
This year, 11 projects have been selected for the Police STAR Fund 2025/2026.
Delivered by the Office of the Police Chief Scientific Adviser (OPCSA), the fund aims to stimulate local innovation and encourages collaboration to solve S&T problems within policing, to ultimately provide a better service to the public. Through the support of the programme, projects have gone on to receive national recognition and funding from other sources to support further development and roll-out.
Examples of projects funded this year include:
For a detailed look at the projects funded by the Police STAR Fund, see page 8.
The OPCSA has been working with youth groups in policing to implement a better focus on science & technology within outreach activities.
We have worked with the Volunteer Police Cadets to develop a new STEM in Policing lesson plan, available to all Cadets units and focussed on the past, present and future innovations in science for policing. This will also be made available for centres delivering the Pearson BTEC Level 3 Extended National Diploma in Uniformed Protective Services course.
In collaboration with YourPolice.UK we have also produced a video targeted at young people aged 13 – 16 which demonstrates how S&T has played a critical role in the success of policing in the past, and how this remains the case today.
Professor Mark Lorch speaks to how policing can further support youth engagement on page 16.
The Office has commissioned two projects to assess the contribution of policing to economic growth in the United Kingdom. The first report from Crest Advisory examined how and where policing adds value to economic outcomes, including employment and productivity, enabling investment, and avoiding costs. This includes a logic model that links policing activities to crime reduction and societal outcomes, which in turn generate economic outcomes and impacts.
The second report from the University of Birmingham and University of Sheffield examined the impact that crime has on house prices, and the economic value of lower crime rates to residents. The report revealed that the average household values a local crime rate reduction of one-incident per 1,000 residents at £3,329. Using this calculation, they estimate a benefit-cost ratio for policing of 4.17, meaning each £1 invested in policing yields £4.17 in economic benefits. Based on this, a 10% increase in policing will generate £14.5 billion in net benefits over twelve years, equivalent to 0.5% of annual GDP.
The full report will be published on science.police.uk soon.
This year, the Office has prioritised learning from international partners on their approaches to Science and Technology (S&T) and identifying key areas for collaboration.
A recent visit to the Netherlands and Europol further strengthened our longstanding relationship with the Dutch National Police. During this visit, we gained valuable insights into their work at the National Police AI Lab, where they are developing and implementing AI techniques to enhance national security and public safety in a coordinated and ethically responsible manner. These insights will help inform the future development of AI research and its application within UK policing.
Our close relationship with the Dutch has also been formalised via the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Dutch National Police and the NPCC to signal our joint commitment to collaboration
In March, the OPCSA hosted two separate international delegations: Japan’s National Police Agency and the Korean National Police Agency. These productive engagements, involving senior leaders in policing, showcased the UK’s S&T ecosystem and our approaches to key technologies such as facial recognition, uncrewed aircraft, and artificial intelligence.
We are optimistic that these engagements mark the beginning of strong partnerships, fostering shared research and innovation, with many opportunities for future collaboration.
First Chief Commissioner of the Dutch National Police Janny Knol (left) and Chief Constable Gavin Stephens (right) signing
the Netherlands and UK S&T Memorandum of Understanding.
