PW-2-2026

Learning and Development

Global Lessons in Data Driven Policing By Lou Heffernan-Glover The rapid expansion of big data has transformed the landscape of modern policing, raising profound questions for security policy, democratic oversight, and the protection of fundamental rights.

L ast November, I was able to attend a five-day seminar on ‘The use of big data tools in police work, opportunities, risks and legal obligations’ at The Information and Education Centre Schloss Gimborn (IBZ), Germany, as part of the International Police Association (IPA). Drawing on experiences from speakers from across the globe, participants examined the ethical, legal, and social challenges of data driven policing. Arriving in the tiny hamlet of Gimborn late on a dark Sunday evening felt eerie, with no lights or signs of life. It wasn’t until morning that I saw the beautiful castle and countryside that would be home for the week. Day 1 was daunting—I knew no one, and I quickly realised I was the only non German speaker until two UK colleagues arrived later that evening. I quickly learned some useful German phrases I was able to use the rest of the week, but thankfully, the interpreters provided by IBZ were exceptional, offering seamless real time translation that made even the most technical sessions accessible. Outside the formal programme, many attendees spoke excellent English, which made mealtimes and evenings engaging for networking and discussions. The first seminar session, led by Professor Marc Schuilenburg from Rotterdam, focused on the growing need for policing to use AI to manage vast amounts of data—and the ethical and legal risks that come with it. He warned of dirty data, or as he put it “garbage in, garbage out”, where biased or unevenly distributed police data can lead to biased outcomes. The talk stressed three essentials: defining the problem before analysing data, improving data quality, and involving diverse expertise—not just technical specialists when designing data solutions.

Day 2 opened with presentations from three German State Criminal Police Officers on their use of the Foundry and Gotham systems, created by Palantir, to integrate and analyse vast amounts of police data. Their opening line: “If only the police knew everything the police know”, captured the need for tools that can connect information held across multiple systems. Palantir remains highly controversial in Germany due to concerns about data privacy, partially because it is a US-based company, but also fears of “mass surveillance,” are amplified by the country’s historical sensitivities. Misreporting in the media has added confusion, and the proprietary nature of the system limits transparency, making legal scrutiny difficult and fuelling worries about bias based on historical data. The states stressed that their systems are isolated, held on secure police servers, and used only for serious crime, terrorism, and child abuse investigations, with strict access controls. I’m not brushing those concerns aside, I just can’t say myself whether the data has any bias or how secure the system is. What I can do is reflect what the states told us. And despite the wider controversy, the operational benefits they described were genuinely striking. Gotham helps investigators make sense of data they already legally hold. They are able to ask the system to interrogate the data and look for links – e.g. if you have the devices from two different people, you could ask the system to identify whether they were online at the same time, using the same WIFI at the same time, or in the same place at the same time. The volumes of data involved were staggering. One of the presenters indicated their version of the platform held 55 million objects, 5.5 million person records, 4.5 million pieces of police information and 2.6 million phone numbers.

14

POLICE WORLD Vol 71 No.2, 2026