Sharing data across agencies (e.g. between local authorities, health officials, police and other legitimate public organisations) could dramatically improve public services, including policing13. From the earliest phases of our research, effective and efficient data sharing was raised as a serious challenge. Forces, like organisations in most other sectors, are understandably concerned about complying with legislation, and about privacy and security. There are examples of good data sharing practices starting to emerge, such as for domestic abuse safeguarding, which requires external agencies to go through a vetting process in order to sign up to an information sharing protocol14. However, most forces do not have consistent good practices such as these in place.
Agencies, as well as the forces themselves, can use a variety of different data systems, and while it is possible for these systems to interact, having multiple entry points leaves more possibility for error and the quality of data is impacted. The vast amount of information, stored across such a variety of systems means that data could be missed, or not all is allowed to be shared. This means it is often difficult for all parties to get a full picture of an incident. All six of the forces we spoke to are now making a move to consolidate their systems, and some forces are now looking into giving external agencies access to their system in order to address this challenge.
While forces recognise the potential value in sharing data, many described an approach to data that is more rooted in risk mitigation than value creation. For example, some forces told us that data processes are only reviewed when something goes wrong. This was raised as a concern in at least two of the interviews, with one participant telling us, “Most of the messaging feels like it tends to be [sent] out more when there's some sort of breach, so an example being if someone has wrongly accessed police systems and are therefore disciplined or lose their job.”
Another data issue forces face is the risk of being overwhelmed by the volume and variety of data now coming in, a challenge identified by five of the sixteen participants. They need to be able to quickly establish what is important and what needs to, and can, be shared with others, especially in time-critical situations. Forces need ways to manage and prioritise the ever-increasing amounts of data. If we can find a safe, transparent and privacy-protected way to open this data up, it could have huge benefits for society.