Blog: Police reform: why technology has to be part of the conversation

A once-in-a-generation opportunity for policing - but reform has to be about more than structures.

Today HMICFRS published its State of Policing 2025–26 report, describing police reform as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the service provided to the public, and it’s difficult to argue with much of the sentiment.

Reform has to reach the frontline

The report rightly recognises the extraordinary commitment and resilience of officers and staff. But it's equally clear about the areas where policing continues to struggle: responding to the public, safeguarding vulnerable people, investigating crime and providing victims with the service they should expect.

What particularly struck me, given the work I now do with Infomentum, is the prominence given to technology, data and AI as part of the answer.

HMICFRS describes technology as a “core policing capability” and highlights the Policing Productivity Review’s view of technology as a “productivity multiplier”. It also points to a familiar problem: too much police technology expenditure remains focused on sustaining ageing, poorly integrated systems and manual processes.

Those systems don't just create an IT problem – they consume officer and staff time, inhibit information sharing and ultimately affect the service victims receive.

Technology should release capacity, not add complexity

Given the pressures on existing staff I think it’s right to call out that policing can’t meet increasing demand simply by asking its workforce to work harder. Technology has to help release capacity so that people can concentrate on the things that require policing skills, judgement and human interaction.

There are encouraging signs that this is beginning to happen.

It was great to see HMICFRS reference Bobbi at Thames Valley Police – technology that Infomentum are actively involved in delivering – as an example of how AI can help manage non-emergency demand, improve the experience of people contacting the police and get them to the right service earlier. Six months after launch, Bobbi was handling around 200 conversations a day across Thames Valley Police and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, demonstrating what can happen when AI is applied to a specific operational challenge.

The report also highlights the potential for AI to support risk assessment and help identify vulnerability at first contact. For me, that illustrates an important distinction.

The opportunity isn't AI for AI's sake. It is applying technology to real operational problems.

Better digital public contact. Better identification of vulnerability. Less repetitive administration. Better information for investigators. More effective communication with victims. Better use of data to understand demand and performance. And ultimately, more police capacity directed towards preventing crime, investigating offences and protecting vulnerable people.

From promising pilots to policing at scale

New national structures potentially create an opportunity to do something policing has historically found difficult: move successful technology beyond individual forces through greater commonality, interoperability and national standards, rather than repeatedly solving the same problems 43 different ways. HMICFRS itself identifies common systems and standards as an opportunity to improve joint working, reduce duplication and strengthen policing's understanding of threat, risk and harm.

That same thinking has relevance in areas such as firearms licensing. Forces need to manage applications efficiently without compromising the rigorous checks and oversight that protect public safety. It’s a challenge we’re helping police forces across the UK address through our Firearms Licensing Solution at Infomentum, and one you'll hear more about in my next article.

Technology providers have a role to play too

But responsibility doesn't sit with policing alone.

We need to understand policing rather than simply sell technology to it. Solutions need to be built around operational outcomes, integrate with the systems policing already has, demonstrate measurable value and – particularly with AI – be implemented lawfully, ethically, transparently and with appropriate governance. Police reform provides the opportunity. Technology can be an important enabler. But better outcomes for the public have to remain the measure of success.

It's safe to say that there is a lot more in this report that deserves discussion. Over the coming weeks, I'll be looking more closely at what the HMICFRS findings tell us about the role technology, data, integration and AI should play in the next phase of police reform. Stay tuned!