New Crime and Security reporting magazine published

The inaugural report of the Crime and Security Research Institute’s (CSRI) activities is now available for free download. The report provides an opportunity to read about some of the Institute’s innovative, multi-disciplinary research projects, along with all of our most recent news, events and research activities.

The publication details how we are utilising the over £2million in external funding we have secured since the Institute’s establishment in 2015.

Big Data Analytics

One of the newest growth points for the Institute is in understanding how new technologies are transforming both crime and security risks, and the responses that public safety agencies deliver to these. We have two major projects in this area which are detailed in the magazine. Firstly, the Open Source Communications Analytics Research (OSCAR) Development Centre. This was funded by the Home Office, College of Policing and Higher Education Funding Council for England, to examine how big data and social media are transforming policing. A unique feature of the approach developed was that it involved academics working directly alongside police experts looking at investigative, intelligence and engagement work, across the full spectrum of police responsibilities from neighbourhood to national security. In a ground-breaking development this involved research being conducted on and contributing to live police operations. One outcome of which was the launching of a counter-terrorism operation based upon work conducted by members of the academic team.  The UK national policing lead for ‘open source intelligence’ in counter-terrorism has said of the programme “One of the most important pieces of work was reviewing the ways of working with open source practitioners. This insight has allowed us to improve training programmes and change our thinking about how we hire staff…. OSCAR has saved the tax payer significant money assisting us in these areas.”

The second major project is the DAIS ITA (International Technology Alliance in Distributed Analytics and Information Science) programme. This is a joint US/UK research programme set up to unlock the potential of “big data” in front line situations, where people and computer systems need to collaborate in a coalition of multiple agencies. The project is funded jointly by the US and UK government up to $80million. Focused upon understanding how the Internet of Things and other sources of big data will transform intelligence work, the project involves a consortium of leading UK and US academic and industry organisations led by IBM, alongside academic and industry partners including Airbus Group, BAE Systems, Imperial College London, Raytheon / BBN Technologies, Stanford University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Yale University. CSRI Director Alun Preece is the UK Academic Lead.

The Cardiff Model

As well as these exciting projects the CSRI report also includes an article on the twentieth anniversary of the highly successful Cardiff Model – an approach to violence prevention developed in response to the VRG discovery that one half to two thirds of violence which results in hospital treatment is not reported to the police. Continuous data is now collected in hospital emergency departments on precise violence location, time and weapon. This information is anonymised and shared regularly by hospitals with crime analysts, resulting in the ability to identify areas and times of violence concentrations. This model has now been adopted in many locations across the UK and also internationally in Amsterdam, and parts of the US and Australia.

Open Sources, Closing Borders: Policing, Counter-terrorism and Organised Crime in Europe After Brexit

CSRI proudly hosted a one day conference in partnership with the College of Policing titled Open Sources, Closing Borders: Policing, Counter-terrorism and Organised Crime in Europe After Brexit. The event explored some of the immediate challenges for the future of policing including Brexit and the new politics of policing, post-truth and soft facts, digital futures and evidence-based policing, through a dialogue involving senior academics, police and intelligence practitioners. Speakers included Sir Dennis O’Connor, Prof. Rod Morgan, NDES, National Crime Agency, Prof. Nick Tilley, the National Prevent Co-ordinator, Deputy Chief Constable Matt Jukes from South Wales Police, the Metropolitan Police Service, National Police Chief’s Council, and College of Policing. A report highlighting the key findings from the event is featured in the magazine.

Executive Education Programme

An area that the Universities’ Police Science Institute is building upon is our innovative Executive Education programme - Policing Futures. The institute is currently working in collaboration with South Wales Police to provide the knowledge, skills and experience required to develop critical thinking and evidence-based practice among those considered leaders within the force. The programme culminates in a formal presentation to the SWP Chief Officer Group on their findings, which will directly feed into the force’s strategic direction.

More information on all of the above projects, as well as other exciting news, research and events can be found in our reporting magazine, which is available for download now.