Virgin Media O2: UK Police Need Urgent Tech Modernisation
A report from Virgin Media O2 Business highlights a crucial path towards technology reform in the UK policing sector.
Conducted in partnership with The Police Foundation, the report - The Power of Information - finds myriad challenges facing police modernisation efforts. Significantly, issues with outdated legacy systems, complex procurement procedures, fragmented data-sharing protocols and a lack of digital knowledge and skills at all levels, are all slowing technology adoption.
“As digital technology continues to evolve, it is critical that UK police forces keep pace with these changes to serve communities effectively.”
Researching consumers also revealed that two-thirds of Brits (66%) feel UK police are lagging behind in their technology investments. This is vital for protecting public safety, improving crime prevention and strengthening emergency response capabilities.
Advancing essential connectivity
Given the UK’s recent push for improved connectivity country-wide, the findings by Virgin Media O2 Business are significant.
Currently, the country’s telecoms infrastructure is falling behind other major economies across Europe, with around 53% of UK residents experiencing connection issues in 2023. As a result, the UK government is eager to prioritise improvements to infrastructure in order to boost connectivity and reduce digital inequalities nationwide.
According to the study, nearly half of Brits currently believe that technology could help the police force considerably improve its emergency response times. In response, the report has outlined a strategic roadmap for UK police forces to best leverage technology, suggesting improvements after consulting with police stakeholders.
The report includes the following key recommendations:
Establish a single national enabling body for police, digital, data and technology:
The report suggests bringing together disparate national institutions in policing into a single national home for policing in England and Wales with a clear strategy and simple governance.
This would allow local innovations to flourish while creating a framework to scale promising new ideas and ensure they can be implemented more quickly across policing.
Develop a national strategy for interoperability:
Virgin Media O2 Business suggests establishing a unified framework to improve data sharing and technology integration across all 48 police forces in the UK.
Unified data standards would ensure seamless information flow, empowering officers to make better decisions in real-time. It would also help police forces scale and deploy new technologies, while eliminating reliance on legacy systems.
Change the leadership culture:
Fostering technological literacy at senior and executive leadership levels is another key recommendation to ensure decision-makers understand the benefits of innovation and act accordingly.
This includes building deeper partnerships with the private sector to allow confident testing and adoption of cutting-edge tech and creating robust training and mentoring programmes for officers and staff.
It is hoped that these wider recommendations will help enable police officers to work more efficiently, empowering them with real-time insights to enhance public safety and foster stronger trust within communities.
“As digital technology continues to evolve, it is critical that UK police forces keep pace with these changes to serve communities effectively,” comments Charlotte Hails, Policing and Justice Strategic Lead at Virgin Media O2 Business.
“Having spent nearly two decades working in and with policing, I’ve seen first-hand the challenges of local, regional and national transformation. Ensuring that the basics are done right, such as leadership and knowledge, and network infrastructure and connectivity, is the backbone of the evolution and innovation needed in policing.”
Better supporting local communities
Implementing the report's recommendations could enhance the efficiency of police forces and improve public safety.
For citizens, this would mean faster response times, smarter crime prevention and investigation and safer communities. Similarly, for officers and staff, modernised systems could reduce administrative burdens and free up more time for frontline duties, whilst fostering a more collaborative work environment.
Charlotte adds: “In the private sector, we have a critical role to play as an active strategic partner, providing police forces with real-world, outcome-based solutions that ensure officers have access to the right information anytime, anywhere, and can do their roles as efficiently as possible to best serve communities.”
The report also found that digital transformation could increase job satisfaction, reduce stress and attract and retain tech-savvy recruits - all essential in a digitally transforming nation. This could in turn support productive police forces with stronger relationships within the communities they serve.
Virgin Media O2 Business currently works with over 30 police forces across the UK, delivering core connectivity and mobile and voice technology solutions to enhance public safety and improve decision-making.
Dr Rick Muir, Director of the Police Foundation and author of the report, said: “The reliance on outdated technology is one of the most significant barriers to effective policing today. When officers are equipped with tools that are far behind the times, their ability to perform their duties efficiently is severely limited.
“This report is a call to action for a paradigm shift that will enable our police forces to operate with the agility, efficiency, and effectiveness that modern policing demands.”
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