19th March 2025
Master data management in UK policing Part Three: Reducing officer risk
By An-Chan Phung, MDM Product Innovation Officer, Civica
It’s 02:48am and PC Sharma and PC Jones have arrived at a block of flats following reports of a disturbance. A resident called 999 urging that officers come quickly after listening to neighbours arguing aggressively for over an hour before a loud bang left things quiet.
The officers struggle to find apartment 2, the alleged scene of the argument, due to an unusual layout with various entrances and stairways. Finally, they knock loudly and announce themselves until the door is opened by a resident who looks like they have just woken up. He is confused and says that he has been in bed for the past four hours. He is annoyed at the disturbance and complains about police harassment but agrees to allow the officers to enter the property. Nothing appears out of place and no other people reside here. The resident informs them that there are also apartments 2a and 2b, but they have separate entrances around the back of the building.
The officers make their way to discover the correct scene of the disturbance. It’s now 03:15am. In apartment 2a they find the citizen that called 999. She whispers to point them next door and clearly wants to keep a low profile. Again, the officers knock and announce themselves to apartment 2b. They meet a male resident with lots of blood dripping from a cut on the side of his head. He allows them to enter but is in a state of distress and not able to communicate clearly in English. While PC Sharma attempts to engage with him, PC Jones finds a female resident semi-conscious on the couch. There are empty bottles of alcohol and smashed glass around the room, which is in a mess. The police seek to establish the physical wellbeing of the two individuals before they can begin to gather information for an investigation.
The call out has been chaotic and challenging for the two officers, but it could have been even worse. They were effectively walking into an unknown situation and location.
Could a better use of data have helped to mitigate this situation?
Who’s behind the door
Arguably one of the biggest risks that officers face is when they approach an unknown location that is potentially linked to a crime. Knowing what, or who is behind the door, as well as correct details about the location before making contact, is invaluable. This information will not only aid enquiries and investigations to run much smoother, importantly it can help to keep officers safe.
As this example illustrates, however, it is not always straightforward.
Continuing our series of blogs that look at the different use cases for Master Data Management in police forces, in this article we are exploring how a joined-up approach to data can help to limit risks to frontline officers, as well as expedite investigations.
Joining up the data
In our last blog we looked at some of the key benefits to crime prevention and proactive policing that forces gain when they are given the tools they need to join the dots between previously fractured information points. By integrating data found across multiple different systems, including both police and third-party data sets, forces gain huge advantages from turning data into intelligence. These are realised in the planning and deployment of resources, greater information sharing for frontline officers, and much more scope and accuracy for police data analysts working hard behind the scenes to support criminal investigations.
By using Master Data Management, it becomes possible to call on information from a variety of sources, whether that’s criminal records, ANPR, vulnerable or missing persons lists, firearms registers, ordinance survey details, electoral records, and more. How about including details of an individual’s links to known criminals or gangs, their various aliases, or whether they have a history of alcohol or drug abuse? Combining all this data into a single source of truth – a golden nominal – helps to create a much clearer picture of a situation.
Current data management practices, however, mean that officers and data analysts have to cross-check and research different records from multiple systems that are often incomplete, duplicated or inaccurate. It takes a lot of time and administration, and it is challenging to get the critical information to investigators or the frontline in the most timely manner.
Master Data Management, on the other hand, takes care of this job so that data is readily integrated and available. It becomes a strategic asset in fighting crime, serving citizens and looking after police officers.
Improved situational awareness
When preparing officers with information on ‘what’s behind the door’, the more information that is available, the more comprehensive the view, and the less risk to the officers knocking on the door.
At the same time, too much data when attending a priority incident could prove to be distracting and have a negative effect, so the way in which it is delivered to officers is key.
Small digestible chunks of data relevant to the incident that focus first on safety until the situation is secure is the best approach.
Based on the situation, key data could include: What is the layout of the location? Who are the neighbours? Are there families or children expected to be at the location? Are there any known offenders or past crimes connected with the location? Are there records of firearms linked to anyone in the building? Are there any vulnerable individuals that could be at risk?
Having an understanding of these factors would have empowered PCs Sharma and Jones not only to get to the incident scene quicker, but they would also have been better prepared to assess the situation and the injuries of the individuals before deciding appropriate next steps.
It would also have empowered their command and control to make a more informed decision on which officers to deploy in the first place. This might mean considering the individuals’ skills or experience, or factors like gender or ethnicity, or whether it would be beneficial to send officers that can speak different languages. It might mean taking a view based on duty of care as an employer, perhaps if one of their officers has been exposed to too many violent crimes recently, for example, and is showing some early signs of burnout.
Ultimately, the more information that can be quickly connected to a call out, the better prepared a team will be to know what is likely to be behind the door, and the better equipped they will be to manage the situation without putting their safety or wellbeing at risk.
Establishing better data maturity
Unfortunately, for many forces this level of data maturity is not yet the reality. Siloed information across different legacy systems means that police forces are simply not able to take full advantage of the data available to them.
Master Data Management ensures that police forces are able to gain the most comprehensive view by integrating data sources from multiple systems. It unlocks greater situational awareness to reduce officer risk and significantly enhances decision making when approaching unknown situations.
For more information on how this can be implemented in your force, speak to one of our experts today by completing the form below.
You can read our complete blog series for UK police forces use of Civica Master Data Management here.
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