PW-2-2026

Learning and Development

The final session was delivered by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. Their work focuses on large scale statistical data rather than individual records, using it to map migration flows, border crossing trends, smuggling routes, and vulnerabilities. This analysis supports EU wide planning and border management decisions and highlighted the sheer scale of the migration challenges they face. Whilst I began the week with a mix of nerves and excitement, I ended it feeling genuinely transformed. My mind had been opened, I’d connected with likeminded colleagues from across Europe, and I felt proud of myself for stepping so far outside my comfort zone. Before June, I had never heard of the IPA or IBZ. Yet through TVP’s links with the IPA, I’ve been able to share our practice with colleagues from Denmark and, most recently, had the privilege of representing TVP internationally at the IBZ Big Data seminar. I felt proud to stand on a global stage on behalf of the organisation, and I would encourage others to seize similar opportunities whenever they arise.

Day 3 started with a trip to the Hesse Police Innovation Hub in Frankfurt, offering a useful glimpse into their approach to innovation. In the afternoon, one of the seminar participants led a walking tour of Frankfurt, allowing opportunities to network and discuss the opening two days of the seminar while taking in the city’s striking architecture and enjoying some traditional local food. One of the most memorable moments came at the end of the second day, when I met one of the speakers, Antonio Saccone, in the Turmbar — a self service bar and wine cellar that ran entirely on an honesty system. Antonio was utterly fascinating. As a police officer, he had helped prosecute high ranking officials for corruption in Italy, later working for Europol after being forced to leave the country. I could have spoken with him for hours. Day 4 , the final day of presentations, began with an inspiring session from Dr Matt Bland, Chief Operating Officer of the UK Society of Evidence Based Policing (EBP). Although the concept of EBP was new to many of the German attendees— and something I’d only partially understood myself—his talk made its value clear. It also gave me practical ideas for improving how we use and share investigation audit data, particularly by trialling different approaches and evaluating which genuinely support improvement. Some of the key messages were: • Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should—EBP helps assess whether an approach truly works and what unintended consequences it may bring. • Failure is part of learning—test, evaluate, adapt, or move on. • When using AI, understand how it was trained and tested, including false positive rates, to avoid embedding bias.

POLICE WORLD Vol 71 No.2, 2026

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