8. Memorandum submitted by
QinetiQ
INTRODUCTION
Science and technology can enable the police
to do their job even better. Enormous advances in the detection
of crime have been achieved through new technologies such as DNA
testing; other examples of how else technology can assist the
operational side of policing are set out at 2 below. Making the
police more effective can draw attention to a successful reform
process.
Science and technology can also advance the
reform process itself, helping the police to become more focused,
responsive, accountable and less mired in paperwork. The scientific
method, of solid foundation and rigorous proofs, complements the
disciplines of good governance and sound policy formation. It
is thus central to what the Government, and police authorities
and forces throughout the country, are endeavouring to achieve,
with benefits for the public and the police alike.
Science is not divorced from the legislative
framework in which it operates, and needs to be considered in
parallel. It can, however, assist with the allocation and prioritising
of resources in an objective and justifiable way. The Home Office's
recent appointment of a Chief Scientist is an indication that
this view is gaining acceptance.
1. HOW SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
CAN DIRECTLY
ASSIST POLICE
REFORM
a. Through the proactive use of science as
a policing and crime-fighting tool
This issue is fundamental to police reform,
as it is one of culture and approach. It is just as important
to see science and technology as an aid to protecting the community,
or the motorist, and preventing crime as to ascertaining what
has gone wrong after the event. Just as in the NHS, one key to
reform rests with prevention so as to reduce the time and resources
devoted to cure. Just as many technologies exist that can help
the police to be proactive as to improve their response, but a
culture change is needed at all levels for this message to be
fully taken aboard.
What is required is an audit, function by function,
of what technologies exist that could contribute to a proactive
policing stance. The audit needs to identify capability gaps both
in the police service and in the technology industry's offerings,
with concerted action needed to address both. It must look at
emerging as well as current needs, as patterns of policing and
crime will each continue to change.
Virtually all crime involves the use of science
and technology, if only the telephone. Internet crime is growing
fast; staying ahead of the criminals is virtually impossible so
there is the need for different tactics involving the anticipation
of needs, with five aims: to deter, detect, disrupt, contain or
prevent, and recover.
b. Through outsourcing R&D
The National Police Plan has given the Police
Scientific Development Branch an enhanced role in developing technologies
of use to the service. It is a valuable agency, but is too small
to develop or take forward by itself the wide range of technologies
the police will need in the years ahead. It is thus important
that the PSDB sets priorities for what R&D it will undertake
itself and what it will outsource to organisations capable of
developing technologies across the full range of their requirements.
c. Through integration of forensics, process
and resources
Through the agency of IT, forensic science and
evidence are starting to play a far greater role in the process
of criminal investigation, which will therefore become increasingly
science-driven. When the link is also made with resources, the
operational side of detective work will become easier to monitor
and direct.
d. Through SOCA and NCIS
The Serious Organised Crime Agency will be taking
on criminals with immense financial resources and, consequently,
access to the best information technologies. For SOCA to succeed,
it must itself be equipped with IT systems and other aids to intelligence
and detection sophisticated enough to beat the criminals at their
own game. It will therefore have to work closely with world leaders
in security R&D.
The National Criminal Intelligence Service will
need equally sophisticated technologies. In addition to human
intelligence, it will have to obtain information of a high enough
quality from the Internet and other open sources to continue making
an effective contribution to the war against crime.
e. Through modelling and operational analysis
The "soft science" modelling of causes
and effects, the effects of policy changes and optimum buying
decisions can assist the process of reform. Use of the scientific
method includes a range of analytical tools drawn from a number
of disciplines, for example the whole field of operational analysis.
These tools add support to, and may well influence, the sound
development and satisfactory implementation of policy. They are
not a panacea, but this is another area in which having a Chief
Scientist in the Home Office, with an appreciation of the applicability
of tools in the support of policy formulation, will prove valuable.
f. Through selection and training of personnel
It is vital to the police that the right people are
appointed at all levels: officers with the steadiest nerve to
be marksmen, vigilant people to monitor security machines, and
men and women who are good with the public to work in the community.
The Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and several other forces
already operate high quality programmes devised by their occupational
psychologists. There may, however, be scope for independent review
or audit of both recruitment and training over the police service
as a whole.
QinetiQ has worked with the military over several
decades devising training and selection programmes for people
in life-or-death roles, from aircrew to maintainers of nuclear
reactors and missile technicians. Further techniques developed
for the transport security industry would be applicable to security
support staff. It is, after all, vital for the police that staff
handling security equipment and manning portals are as thorough
and professional as themselves.
g. Through reducing bureaucracy within the
criminal justice system as a whole
The police will only be perceived as effective
if not only they, but the professionals they interact with, are
on top of their job. Not only is almost half a police officer's
time taken up with paperwork; this is mirrored in all the agencies—and
other parts of the service—with which officers have to deal.
Much important and sensitive information is handwritten and has
to be typed up, and with systems not joined up communications
will inevitably break down.
The Bichard Report did not identify isolated
lapses in a well-functioning system; information flow between
police, courts, social services, the prison service and youth
offending teams is almost non-existent. Each agency has to capture
information separately and enter it into its own systems ... many
of which are paper. There is an urgent need for reform of the
criminal justice system as a whole, in step with the police.
QinetiQ is in discussions with government about
ways in which police IT systems can be made more capable, more
effective, and more compatible with others. Equipping the police
with information technology has not been without pain, but things
are starting to come right. The next challenge is that large parts
of the criminal justice system are way behind, while the scope
for computing—and especially mobile computing—to assist
the police is leaping ahead.
h. Through the use of mobile computing
Mobile computing has the capability to capture
much information at source electronically, and more importantly
to "fill in" information that is already known. For
instance, officers with mobile data terminals can interrogate
the police network about a suspect they have stopped and instantly
recover information including photographs, other ID and criminal
status. Decisions about response can be made instantly, without
the need to return to the station. Coupled with GPS positioning
devices, location based information can also be included and,
crucially, returned to the control room so that the officer's
position is accurately monitored for safety and backup.
Police cars already have some form of mobile
data units, but these are restricted to use in the vehicle. However
personal mobile data terminals are now feasible with the use of
standard hand held devices like Personal Digital Assistants and
next-generation mobile phones. Incident queries and information
such as stop and search are entered onto the portable terminal—and
can be transmitted instantly to the police network—and notification
receipts printed on a portable belt mounted printer.
The transmission of sensitive information over
the airwaves has security implications for personal data protection
and intelligence confidentiality. QinetiQ, with its expertise
in defence security, has concluded that with appropriate security
protection, the desired level of data protection can be assured.
Massive cost savings can thus be achieved by using commercial
off-the-shelf facilities without compromising the integrity of
the system. QinetiQ has produced a prototype using PDAs, GPRS
and GPS; this is currently on trial with one police authority.
2. HOW NEW
TECHNOLOGIES CAN
HELP THE
POLICE DO
THEIR JOB
BETTER
There are new, home-grown technologies available
to the police in almost every aspect of their work which, if widely
adopted, could demonstrate to the community a marked improvement
in performance by a reformed police service. Many would also make
the work of the individual officer less dangerous, more productive
and more appreciated.
a. Through modelling
There is a wealth of "hard science"
modelling that can be harnessed to assist policing. This expertise
can be called on as required and needs a cadre of good scientists
and engineers with the right security clearances and the ability
to act as expert witnesses. Examples of where modelling could
be useful include modelling of bricks dropped from motorway bridges,
anticipation of blast effects on buildings, forensic reconstruction
of debris after a major incident and blood modelling from an injury.
b. Through available or emerging technologies
These examples—most of them devised or
investigated by QinetiQ—are just the tip of the iceberg.
Some are in use but not widely, some are ready for deployment
and others could be with a clear direction, or funding, from the
Home Office, ACPO or the Police Authorities:
— Recognition of people, as well as
cars, captured on CCTV.
— Remote sensing technologies that
detect hidden people and concealed weapons, even if non-metallic,
without risk to the individual or operator.
— Magnetic sensors could, with collaboration
between the universities and industry, create even more sophisticated
search technologies.
— Using electronic warfare technologies
to handle increasing volumes of forensic data; IT in forensics
itself is already well covered.
— QinetiQ's X-net, a blanket of netting
which wraps itself round the axle of a fleeing car, preventing
it getting away or skidding into pedestrians.
— Blind Signal Separation to recover
voice and other sounds more effectively from telephone or other
intercepts.
— Recovery of data stored by criminals
in the engine management systems of their cars.
— A low-cost technology that could
almost eliminate false alarms from intruder detection systems,
also providing forensic data when there has been a break-in.
c. Through involving the public
Even without a beat bobby on every corner, technology
enables the police to re-engage with the public and prove themselves
as effective in the community as ever. Integrating law enforcement
into society through the medium of technology will be a tangible
sign to the public that the reform process is working. Here are
some suggestions:
— Encouraging 3G mobile telephone users
to photograph criminal acts and crime scenes and e-mail them to
the police
— Encouraging use of the Internet as
an alternative to dialling 999 or ringing the local police station.
— Tying Neighbourhood Watch to the
Internet by putting a policemen's helmet icon on the browser,
making it easy to report anything suspicious.
29 July 2004
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