Alice Chambers |
Data analytics organisation Simpson Associates has developed a Microsoft Azure-based data solution for UK police forces, in collaboration with the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme (TOEX).
The platform coordinates teams across the UK to create an enhanced intelligence picture of the current state of exploitation of vulnerable individuals. It features a data analytics portal that uses Microsoft Power BI, which allows data to be shared across forces, agencies and third parties to improve collaboration and evidence-based decision-making so that more vulnerable people are safeguarded.
Previously, officers had to manually search various datasets. TOEX partnered with Simpson Associates to speed this process and enable public and private sector organisations to collaborate on this national programme.
“The opportunity to bring together information and data onto a single data platform is revolutionary,” said Kate Thacker, detective chief superintendent at TOEX. “This is the first time in UK policing that this has been delivered.”
Simpson’s platform shows that Microsoft’s machine learning capabilities can be used efficiently for hidden harm identification.
“Crime, as we all know, is borderless – and now we’re starting to get a borderless solution too,” said Ross Gibson, account executive for policing at Microsoft.