This problem is a UK government area of research interest (ARI) that was originally posted at https://ari.org.uk/ by a UK government organisation to indicate that they are keen to see research related to this area.
How much weight should policing place in predictive algorithms and what is the evidence base for the successful use of these techniques?
Analytics is the ability to synthesise information to draw insights that can lead to actionable decisions, often in combination with other information and at scale.
We recognise that policing’s increasing use of analytics, including in areas such as risk assessment, come with an obligation to ensure the public understand what we are doing and consent to it. To achieve this requires deriving better answers to a set of questions that afford the public transparency and voice. We identify this as a separate ARI because it is central to our overarching ambition to build public confidence and because we believe research is needed to develop best practice.
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We welcome your engagement with our ARIs in the following ways:
• If you have evidence that completely or partly supports or answers one of our ARIs, we invite you to share that with us. For any ongoing research relevant to policing and crime reduction, we encourage you to register your research on the College of Policing’s research projects map, which has been designed to promote collaboration and support requests for participants.
• If you are, or plan to be, carrying out research that relates to one of our ARIs, we’d like to hear about it. While we cannot respond to speculative approaches for research funding, we will where possible act to support your ambitions, including finding you policing partners where possible.
• If you are submitting a funding or grant application that aligns with one of our ARIs, we hope that referencing policing’s ARIs will help to strengthen your case for the possible public impact of the research.
• We will use the ARI document to structure our academic engagement, prioritise events and build new connections with external partners. We will be using our ARIs in our engagement with UKRI, and we will publish any opportunities for funding via our website https://science.police.uk/
Please send any correspondence and questions to csa@npcc.police.uk, including ‘ARI’ in the subject heading.