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It’s here: A new reality in the way you train.

From NASA and medical schools, to Walmart, more and more organisations are turning to VR for training, as it’s highly effective and has unique capabilities to build empathy and teach soft skills. These are also vital for the ability to de-escalate situations – a core skill in policing. Robert Murphy, Senior Director of Virtual Reality at Axon details why VR is going to be the next big thing for in-work training.

• Investment in VR training is rising rapidly

• A substantial body of research shows that it works

• VR is uniquely suited to teach soft skills

• It's future (and Covid-19) compatible

• More about Axon's VR training modules

Investments in VR training is rising rapidly

Although VR is still more associated with gaming, VR training has a long history of training people in fields as diverse as medicine, space travel and the military. Investment in industrial VR applications has long outpaced the development of VR for entertainment. According to the XR Industry Insight, nearly twice as many companies are developing industrial AR (augmented reality) applications than are working on consumer products. A recent survey of IT decision-makers found that half of their companies were involved in developing VR applications. The same report expects worldwide spending on commercial virtual reality solutions to grow to $7.1 billion in 2020, up from $4.5 billion in 2019. 

Murphy says, ‘VR is sometimes seen as a gimmick, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s effectiveness for training has been well documented with a substantial body of research.’ This Price Waterhouse Coopers study, for example, found that ‘Users trained with VR were up to 275% more confident to act on what they learned after training—a 40% improvement over classroom and 35% improvement over e-learn.’ They also found that V-learners were 4 times more focused during training than their e-learning peers and felt 3.75 times more emotionally connected to the content than classroom learners.

There are now also the first meta-studies emerging, like this one on VR surgical simulators, confirming the effectiveness of using VR in professional training. 

These findings also hold up in real life: Walmart uses VR headsets to teach its employees how to operate its customer service facility, which has reduced the training time from eight hours to 15 minutes, with no drop in efficacy.

The more technology and artificial intelligence advance, the more we seem to tune into what makes us human. As a society, we increasingly realise the importance of soft skills, and the role empathy plays in pro-social behaviour. Now, neuroscientists have found that empathy is one of our core neurobiological competencies. And, what's more, this study proves that it's not fixed, but mutable and can be taught and enhanced.

Murphy says, 'Empathy is an important component of policing. We now understand a lot more about the positive effect building empathy has, especially when it comes to community engagement and relations. With homelessness and mental health conditions are on the rise, officers need to understand what a community is going through and VR is the perfect tool for it.'

This gives officers a deeper insight and better understanding of what kind of response is most likely to de-escalate the situation when faced with somebody who is behaving irrationally.

VR is uniquely suited to teach soft skills

'In policing today, there is a big emphasis on better communication,' says Murphy. ‘VR is a safe space to try out different responses and see how these affect the outcome, without actual negative consequences.'

You can also train how to respond, while being subjected to an intense sensory experience (rather than in an artificial training environment) developing soft skills through repetition. 'When the fight or flight mechanism kicks in,' says Murphy, 'you are not going to remember what you learnt on paper, so the right response needs to be drilled with realistic stressors until it becomes second nature.'

'It's limitless', says Murphy. 'With VR, you can put somebody on a bridge, or a rooftop, or outside somebody's home who is having a psychotic episode, so no expensive training setups are needed. In particular, police training traditionally involves role-play, often in scenarios that need various actors as well as an elaborate set up to be convincing.’

After the initial purchase, VR goggles are, of course, a lot more cost-effective than role play or classroom training, as they can be used over and over again with no additional cost. VR training also often only takes a fraction of the time, meaning fewer working hours are lost.

It's, of course, safe while there is a threat of Covid-19, but also has great potential for future applications. The pandemic has fast-tracked virtual developments and increased their acceptance, as employees and employers look for greater flexibility. 

There is also huge potential in this technology, and companies are looking into developing 3-dimensional training environments, where people can interact virtually.

Recognising the huge advantage of VR training for the police, Axon is currently offering three modules: Schizophrenia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Suicidal Ideation, all incorporating the latest insights into these conditions.

Axon is releasing more modules: Hard of Hearing, Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI) and Active Bystander. Murphy says, 'People who are hard of hearing can appear disobedient, and this module trains police officers in the subtle signs that show the difference. The PTSI module teaches police officers to spot the signs in themselves, members of the community as well as colleagues as well as advice on how to address it. Active Bystander, is a module on peer intervention, which teaches officers what they can do if they recognise that a colleague is heading down an unethical path. How do you step in at an appropriate time and prevent unnecessary harm?'

How are the VR training modules received? Murphy says, 'We had a lot of interest. We find young officers, who have grown up with technology are very receptive to these solutions. But experienced officers also find them useful, in particular, as there are a lot of new insights about mental health conditions and a better understanding of how best to address them. 

‘We work with eminent experts in this field and distilling the research into immersive 10-minute training modules can be a real challenge. We take our inspiration from video games, cinematic experiences, virtual experiences, first-person view documentaries and 360˚ video. We're also looking to take VR training a step further, with many more ideas and modules in development. One of the exciting things is that what you can do in VR is only limited by your imagination.'

ARTICLE: Six signs that VR is the future of in-work training

Six signs that VR is the future of in-work training

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NATIONAL POLICING DIGITAL STRATEGY

The UK’s National Policing Digital Strategy (NPDS) makes one thing very clear: the UK’s police forces will need to use digital technologies to respond to profound societal changes and maximise tight budgets. Mike Ashby-Clarke, Axon’s UK Country Manager and a former Metropolitan police officer, looks at how the strategy will shape policing across four areas:



1. OPTIMISING EFFICIENCY THROUGH DIGITAL TOOLS

The strategy strongly encourages police forces to engage more fully with the opportunities that digital technologies create, especially in two areas. The first is enabling police officers to work more efficiently. The second is to provide citizens with a seamless experience when contacting the police, aiming for a smooth interaction across multiple contact channels – e.g. mobile or web. The NPDS also calls for closer collaboration across the public sector to tackle complex public safety issues. 

There is a perception that public safety bodies can be slow to uptake new technology. But there are signs of change: most police forces are now moving away from on-premise technology to use cloud-based solutions that are easier to deploy and run and are more cost-efficient. This is, in part, down to the myth being dispelled that on-premise systems are more secure but it’s also in recognition of the fact that new technology, such as AI, needs the limitless power of cloud computing to deliver real efficiencies.

The need for tech ethics has come to the forefront in the last five to six years, and the NPDS has ethics high on the agenda. It is applying the same ethical approach, which is already entrenched in policing values, to digital technology. The question is, how are these safeguards implemented across 43 different forces and varying political agendas from the respective Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs)?

AI, in particular, is being used in new solutions. For example the use of AI to predict crimes, often termed predictive policing, have led to calls for more oversight and guidance.

The strategy seeks to strengthen the relationships between police forces and the private sector. We have seen national technology programmes, which aim to provide systems for all forces, fail in recent years. The reason for this is that it seems almost impossible to simultaneously satisfy the requirements of 43 different organisations – each with their individual challenges and goals – even when building a platform or solution from scratch. The private sector can provide a solution, having the skills to build, iterate and configure off-the-shelf products at pace and scale. The Met’s Body-Worn Video (BWV) programme is a good example. In just 12 months 22,000 cameras and 50,000 Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) licences were deployed and all users trained.

The implementation of the strategy depends on individual PCCs, who are providing police funding. And while there is some pressure to implement the recommendations, a lack of resources may make this difficult. Due to budget cuts, many police forces have a backlog of more pressing demands that take precedence: for example, equipping all firearms officers with point-of-view video cameras, which is mandatory but not all forces currently comply with this requirement. Indeed, additional funding will be needed to help forces deploy new technology and take advantage of the promise this offers to improve crime-fighting and streamline workflows to allow police teams to spend less time on clerical work and more in their communities. 

The report emphasises that the private sector offers a great deal that can be used to help achieve the vision of the NPDS. The private sector can attract world-leading tech talent and afford to invest a substantial part of its profits in R&D. This just cannot be matched by public sector funding during times of contracting budgets. 

Since Peel set the tone for modern policing, the UK’s police forces have been highly regarded, especially given that the relative safety enjoyed by UK citizens is achieved by unarmed officers. Looking forward, we need to embrace innovation and consider the role that innovative technology can play to help the UK’s police force remain the leading light they’re seen to be.

ARTICLE: FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM THE NATIONAL POLICING DIGITAL STRATEGY

Four takeaways from the National Policing Digital Strategy

Police officers are in the field in all weather and for long periods and, at times, their work will involve chasing people and physical confrontation. It follows that their equipment must be durable, comfortable, and unobtrusive to wear and seamlessly fit into their working lives. Achieving these goals requires an innovative product design and an obsession with seemingly small details. It’s the kind of work that Kevin Coles thrives on. He’s a product designer, who has been devising and manufacturing the accessories and mounts for Axon products used by the country’s police forces. Here he gives five observations on what most influences his team’s work. 

Each piece of equipment and accessory has to perfectly mould into police officers’ lives. This means, for example, that while Axon’s core products are the same in the US and UK, the way they are worn isn’t. The UK, for example, often has different requirements, which is why everything from UK-specific mounts to holsters and training suits are designed and manufactured in the UK.

For example, the Flex 2 is a small cigar-shaped point of view camera designed to record exactly what the wearer sees, but the camera needs to point directly at what the police officer is looking at: if they tip or turn their head, the camera needs to follow. In the US this is achieved by fixing it to officers’ sunglasses. But that’s not an option in the UK, where most police forces require officers to take off sunglasses when interacting with the public. 

Speaking about this challenge, Coles says: “To develop the head mount for the Flex 2, I worked closely with the police firearm school and their officers. After observing and talking to officers, I decided firstly to place the camera on the peak of the police cap with a magnetic mount and then moved on to different solutions. We took a long time honing this product, and settled on a Velcro compatible loop covering to the peak and hook under the mount in combination with an especially designed and manufactured woven elastic with silicone dots, so that it would grip the camera but stay flexible. Developing this mount took a large number of interviews and rigorous testing, but we got it right in the end – it’s a top-rated product, with over 3,000 police officers using it. No matter how small a product is, we won’t stop until we get it just right.” He’s recently completed a new challenge successfully for a police force who needed the Flex 2 to be worn on the shoulder. 

To get the design just right, countless technical details have to be considered. Coles says, “We have to think carefully about materials. Equipment has to withstand pepper spray and fabrics have to be durable and breathable. We even use materials developed by NASA. Equipment, like a body-worn camera (BWC), has to withstand being pulled and grabbed. But in other situations – for example, if an officer has come off a motorbike or a wire gets trapped the camera should have a release mechanism, so that there’s no risk of the officer being pulled along. Police are not just walking, but also running, rolling on the floor, and jumping into their cars. We have to think about the worst possible scenario and design with it in mind because it could be a matter of life and death.”

To make sure not just every piece of equipment, but also every mount, holster and training suit, works perfectly and in every situation, numerous interviews are conducted before and during their development and throughout the in-depth testing regime.

To get the design of fixes and mounts just right, the designer really has to understand the ins and outs of police officers’ daily work. Coles can draw on over twenty years of experience working closely with police, supplying equipment, getting to know different police forces and their exact requirements.  

He knows on an intuitive level that all equipment just has to work: the best BWC is of little use if it is difficult to operate, poorly mounted so it moves about, or the lens angle isn’t right. Police officers are also often on their feet all day, so any equipment and its connectors have to be comfortable and user-friendly.

One particularly valuable experience was taking part in an instructor training course. “There was a part where they put you under stress,” says Coles. “They get you to run into a darkened room with smoke, flashing lights, loud banging noises and I had to get a pair of handcuffs on somebody. It really got my adrenaline going and gave me a feel of the stress officers can be under and an understanding that police equipment has to be robust and usable almost without thinking. To be honest I didn’t perform very well at all, but I learnt a lot about an officer’s work.”

Approaching design from the point of view of the user (quite literally in this case), is often referred to as ‘design thinking’, a shift in product development that has emerged in recent years. The designs evolve out of understanding and empathy: being able to put yourself into the position of the user rather than top-down product development, where the focus is on features. Indeed, the most successful companies put the needs of the customer first, focusing on user experience and solving their problems through intelligent design. 

Coles works with his colleagues to put prototypes together in-house and then works with the police to thoroughly test and hone them until Axon is 100% satisfied that they meet the company’s high standards and satisfy customers' needs. He says, “We have worked with the College of Policing as well as different forces, who are very keen to have an input at the development stage and make sure they get the best products.” The process works well. It can involve the occasional setback when we haven’t quite got things right but as long as the end result turns out well and the customer is happy, it’s all worthwhile.

Axon takes a holistic approach to product development – it’s not just about an individual product, but how all the pieces of equipment work together, creating a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Axon’s vision is an ecosystem with the police officer at its centre, increasing their capabilities and making sure they are as effective as they possibly can be by providing powerful tools that are reliable and intuitive to use. 

Good design is essential to the vision. And officers never pay much attention to the big little things, such as mounts, which means that Coles got it just right. 

ARTICLE: The Big Little Things

The Big Little Things

There is potential for data-driven policing to predict and prevent crimes. Still, racial equality campaigner Mecole Jordan-McBride, Senior Program Manager at NYU School of Law Policing Project and a member of Axon's US ethics board, warns that its use comes with implications for civil liberties and BAME communities.

Predictive policing is already used in many places in the US as well as the UK, but there is increasing controversy over its rapid adoption due to lack of transparency and its potential to discriminate and alienate communities. This prompted the EU to propose new rules for AI in February 2020, saying that ‘Clear rules are needed to address ‘high-risk AI systems’ such as those in health, policing or transport, which should be ‘transparent, traceable and guarantee human oversight.’ 

Predictive policing was introduced around 2011, when Time magazine hailed predictive policing as one of the top 50 inventions that year. It was a time where we were just starting to grasp the potential of big data that came with the advancing digitisation as well as high hopes that this technology would improve our lives.

Numerous police forces in the US and UK have started trialling and using historic data to predict crimes over the last decade. 

Predictive policing systems work by using machine-learning algorithms, which can analyse millions of data points. These can include details of past crimes and identities of criminals, which can be combined with local intelligence, social media history and mobile phone data. The AI systems are trained to spot correlations and patterns within the data to, for example, learn the modus operandi of offenders, and make predictions of where future crimes are likely to occur and who may become a victim or perpetrator of violence. 

From the technology’s inception there has been great optimism that it would enable the police to move from traditional policing to intelligence-led policing, or from a reactive to a proactive approach, preventing rather than having to solve crimes. This would benefit not only victims and society as a whole but also perpetrators, who might avoid entering the criminal justice system and the detrimental effects this often has on their life chances.

However, there is mounting concern that this use of data negatively impacts civil liberties and communities. Mecole Jordan-McBride, Senior Program Manager at NYU School of Law Policing Project and a member of Axon's US ethics board, calls for a more cautious approach to predictive policing. “We live in a society which is becoming increasingly reliant on AI,” she says. “But this doesn't give a green light for applications such as predictive policing without taking a deep dive into how it works and how it impacts communities.”

Mecole also has concerns around how the technology affects BAME communities. Some systems focus on location, trying to predict where and when future crimes are likely to happen, while others try to prevent crimes by pinpointing the individuals that are most likely to become a victim or perpetrator of crime. To compile the list, the system looks at residents with a history of violence and criminal activity, as well as the people they are affiliated to, through, for example, gang activity or social media history.  

Mecole finds this deeply problematic because she argues that the data used replicates existing racial biases in society, risking a new kind of profiling. She says, “Some communities of colour are already over-policed, and these algorithms are simply reproducing this, focusing disproportionately on them.” 

Mecole observes how this is alienating the very people that agencies are trying to protect, and who feel not only targeted but occupied. “In some neighbourhoods, there are police on every corner, who look like they are just waiting for something to happen. That sends a negative message. It alienates people and erodes trust, creating a vicious circle.” 

But it doesn't only affect the people who have a criminal history, as these systems can also capture the identities of social connections, including friends and relatives. Mecole says, “It's forcing people to make difficult choices. For example, I have had no contact with law enforcement but, if I wanted to stay connected to a family member who did, I would have to face an invasion of my privacy on a very granular level, such as being put on strategic mapping lists, which puts me in view of law enforcement.” 

Civil liberty campaigners argue that this doesn't only violate associational freedoms, but also goes against a reasonable expectation of privacy. There are also concerns about the lack of transparency, as there is often no easy way to see the list and what kind of information is held, rectify errors or remove oneself from it.

So far, the evidence of how effective these systems are is mixed and difficult to assess, in particular, as moderate increases in crimes solved in the short term could be outweighed by the detrimental impact this has on some communities in the long run.

While Axon recognises the potential for data-driven policing, Axon is not currently developing such technologies and works closely with its ethics board to make sure any solution the company provides is effective as well as ethical. 

Mecole asks, “What message does it send to communities when police forces invest millions on AI rather than building relationships with these communities, or investing in much-needed social services, which would prevent some of the problems that lead to criminal activities? There is an absence of input by the communities as well as transparency.” 

Does she think predictive policing would be more suited to the UK, where communities tend to be more mixed? “It looks different but, at the core, there is the potential for the same institutional, systemic bias, which is replicated in AI,” she says.

Finally, could there be a new type of AI, developed to embed fairness into such a predictive policing system? “I won't say that AI doesn't have a place in policing,” says Mecole, “but technology won't ever replace relationship-building, sensitivity to social issues and trust. We need to have these difficult conversations. I think Axon is doing just that by working with an ethics board, so kudos to them. We are an independent board, so they don't have to follow our advice, but they have always listened and observed our recommendations, and I think this is helping them to succeed.” And, Mecole says, it's exactly this engagement that may enable the development of less-biased AI in future. “Nothing is impossible.”

ARTICLE: MACHINES, AI AND THE FUTURE OF INTELLIGENCE-LED POLICING

Machines, AI, and the Future of Intelligence-led Policing

Mike Ashby-Clarke is Axon’s UK country manager. Prior to Axon, Mike was an officer in the Metropolitan Police Service (Met). In 2014 he was a sergeant in Camden, North London, where he had first-hand experience of the Met’s 10-borough trial of body-worn cameras. As the force moved to a full deployment of 22,000 Axon Body 2s in 2016, Mike assumed the role of the project’s performance and governance lead. The article calls on this unusual blend of project oversight and operational experience to explain the five key insights that Mike believes can help ensure successful body-worn camera deployments. They include:

1: The trial phase: Turn sceptics into advocates (and make cameras a mandatory accessory)

The Met’s trial of body-worn cameras, run in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the College of Policing, was the world’s largest. It involved 10 boroughs, focusing on Emergency Response Teams (ERTs). Five ERTs were randomly assigned to either the treatment group, who were issued cameras (two teams), or the control group (three teams). The Met elected to run the project in an advisory capacity, recommending that officers assigned cameras wore them. But it was not mandatory. 

With any roll-out of new technology there will be advocates, sceptics and those in between. Says Mike: “We had our fair share of each. And it just so happens that one of the more vocal members of my team, who was not a fan, pivoted in his view when he saw how cameras protect officers.”

The officer was implicated in an allegation of assault. It was made against him and a colleague by a female suspect they were transporting to custody. It was so serious that, under normal circumstances, a professional standards investigation would have commenced. The officers would also have been withdrawn from duty.

However, both officers’ cameras had recorded the incident. The footage showed there was no case. The complainant was charged with wasting police time and the officers were spared the professional and personal worry associated with a standards review. “This one incident completely changed the officer’s view,” observes Mike. “As a result, everyone started to wear their cameras more often and it impressed two things on me. Firstly, that, if there are officers who are well-known figures, it’s best to try to bring them onside to help influence others. Secondly, due to the protection that cameras give officers, there’s strong merit in making it mandatory that they’re worn throughout any trial. And, ultimately, the more officers that do so, the more evidence there’ll be behind the business case.”

2: The deployment phase: Success lies in planning and benchmarking

Support for body-worn cameras in London had been building for a while ahead of their deployment. And, with public opinion, the Mayor’s Office and the Met all onside, the project team identified over 20 goals. But quickly the performance and governance team felt these needed to be refined. 

Says Mike: “As we got into the roll-out, we identified that our targets were esoteric. A good example is the business case. We set the goal that body-worn cameras should pay for themselves by reducing complaints against officers, and therefore litigation costs. Since the cameras were rolled out, complaints have fallen by 40% – a great win. But in reality, it’s hard to say how much of this is directly attributable to body-worn cameras and thus how much of a financial benefit we can claim.”

Mike’s team trimmed the project’s goals down to eight. They set a baseline measure for each one, including tracking the public’s confidence in body-worn video, ensuring that all stop and search incidents are recorded and increasing positive criminal justice outcomes and early guilty pleas. A dashboard monitored the goals. And each month Mike presented findings to borough commanders to show them how they were doing relative to peers. He says: “This is the key learning for me – it’s critical to set quantifiable goals at the outset. These can be used not only to justify spending but to encourage teams to adopt best practice.”

3: The deployment phase: Take your community with you 

Although the roll-out of body-worn cameras was broadly supported by Londoners, there were concerns about how they’d be used. What’s more, the capital had an ongoing issue, with some communities feeling that they were disproportionately targeted by stop and search. The body-worn camera team worked closely with communities to tackle both issues head-on. Partnering with the Met’s Community Monitoring Groups, officers met regularly with local community leaders. Random stop and search footage was selected to discuss whether the stop was appropriate and how the interaction was handled. Constructive feedback was fed back to officers. 

“The Met rightly receives a lot of kudos for this level of transparency,” says Mike. “And, as stop and search becomes more frequently used to arrest the rise in knife crime, I believe we’ll see less push back from communities who now have a deeper understanding of the rationale behind this. Critically, too, since we rolled out the cameras, the recording of all stop and search situations has grown from 40% to close to 100% – this is a major win for officers, people being stopped and communities. It protects the truth and ensures transparency.”

4: The deployment phase: Train the trainers – and be flexible 

While body-worn cameras are intuitive to use, the whole approach to capturing footage and managing it does require training. In the Met, delivering this across a large force was a challenge. It managed this by providing online training. Officers had to present their training certificate before they were issued with cameras. Meanwhile, ‘super users’ were trained for each station and were on hand to help colleagues. It’s also advisable to have a dedicated project team – involving officers, tech staff and data analysts.

Having officers on the team is especially important. Mike gives this example as to why: “It’s not unusual for a tech survey to suggest that the best place for camera docks is near a junction box when, actually, officers want them to hand in their parade room. Apparent nuances like this can make a big difference to the way officers engage with kit.”

It’s also recommended that the project team is retained post deployment. The main reason for this is that SaaS products like Axon Evidence are continually updated. While this brings huge value in terms of optimising investments, software improvements need to be validated and tested to ensure they are appropriate for each force. Referring to this, Mike comments: “You can’t assume that new features will just be assimilated into business as usual. So training platforms must be easy to update to ensure courses stay in step with agency protocols and the new capabilities available to officers. The obvious solution is an online training portal with updates to resources sent to all officers who need to take them.”

5: The deployment phase: Promote the roll-out 

In the public sector, budgets can be tight. This can lead to a make-do and mend approach to technology, with teams feeling they have to endure, not enjoy, equipment and systems. 

Body-worn cameras represented a major uplift in terms of kit and the project team wanted to emphasise this. All officers were sent a ‘goody bag’. This included headphones, cue cards that could be handed to the public to explain why cameras were used, and the bag itself which doubled up as a lint lens cleaner. “A 22,000 camera roll-out is a big investment,” says Mike. “We wanted the issuing of devices to feel like unboxing a new iPhone. As a result of this, officers took greater ownership of their cameras and looked after them more.” 

To learn more about the Met’s deployment of body-worn cameras, two case studies are available: 

Sharing 5,500 clips with the CPS every month 

The benefits of SaaS for digital evidence management

ARTICLE: Five Insights From the UK's Biggest Body-Worn Camera Deployment

Five Insights From the UK's Biggest Body-Worn Camera Deployment

Kathleen O’Toole is one of the grandees of policing. Her career spanned continents and stretched from front-line officer to commissioner. She is also a member of Axon’s AI Ethics Board. Here she explains why Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing are as valid today as when they were formulated in 1829. 

Peel’s principles have stood the test of time and remain the foundation of modern, democratic policing. The core message of ‘policing by consent’ means that, by and large, for the police to succeed, they must earn and maintain the trust of the community. Today, perhaps more than at any other time, these principles face a serious test. New technologies, such as facial recognition and prediction modelling, have vast potential to anticipate and prevent crime. But the use of some technologies, such as facial recognition, raises dystopian concerns about surveillance. What’s more, the emergence of bias in AI (which is central to predicting crimes) that seems to mimic the way humans stereotype, is undermining the public’s confidence in these innovations. With these issues in mind, how can we find the balance between making use of these powerful technologies, while still policing with consent and getting buy-in from our communities? Kathleen recommends four disciplines that can help:

Engaging the community and building trust

Soon after my appointment as the police chief in Seattle, I asked the precinct captains how we were doing on crime, and they replied, ‘Good...we think’. In reality, they had no idea - no measurement. Within weeks, we launched SeaStat, our version of CompsStat (computer statistics program), to capture timely and accurate data to map crime. 

The data we captured went well beyond crime data and showed that we were hugely involved in our community. In fact, similar to studies of other major cities, law enforcement was only 10-15% of the work we were doing. The rest was providing service and assisting vulnerable people.  Our greatest challenges were at the intersection of public health and public safety – homelessness, addiction, conditions and mental health crises.  We were constantly under pressure to address people’s concerns about quality of life issues in their neighbourhoods. 

We also discovered that officers used force in less than 2% of cases and most of it was minimal – officers only had to use serious force in a fraction of 1% of cases. We were able to use this data to address concerns and perceptions about officers’ performance and to have more constructive conversations with the community. Showing that our day-to-day operations were very different from the police shows most people see on TV also helped to enhance trust and build better relationships.

Without timely data and reliable metrics, it’s difficult to engage communities and focus on the issues that matter to them. When it comes to building trust, and policing with consent, we can use improved data collection techniques and analysis to shine a light on police work. This helps move the tone of debate away from speculation and perception to facts that enable a better understanding of the way police work and the often unseen effort that officers put in to helping their communities, looking after the vulnerable and keeping us safe. 

One of the biggest changes I’ve seen in policing is the availability of digital tools to capture data and analyze crime, and also to understand the broader demands on the police. In Seattle, we used our operations data to establish community policing micro plans, unique strategies to address concerns in specific neighbourhoods.

Of course, we always focused on serious ‘headline’ crimes. But we also developed a grassroots approach, engaging front-line police officers and community members in the development of neighbourhood strategies. They had first-hand knowledge of the challenges they faced, and often presented the best solutions. For each neighbourhood, we distilled three to five issues to focus on. We partnered with a local university to develop quantitative and qualitative metrics to gauge results, measure community satisfaction, and inform the evolution of each micro-plan.

At the same time, we acquired and developed additional tools to build trust and enhance transparency.  Body cameras were issued to all patrol officers. Public-facing dashboards allowed the community to access timely data and reports. We even worked with Code for America and mental health service providers to develop an app to assist officers when encountering those in mental health crises. It enhanced safety for officers and vulnerable members of the community. 

The SeaStat system that we set up in Seattle helped us define priorities and reframe our discussion with communities about the work we were doing and, indeed, the work they wanted us to do. With a view to being as transparent as possible, we published maps and data online. Anyone with an interest in policing could see data and reports on crime, other calls for service, community policing micro-plans, use of force, hate crimes, mental health crisis intervention and a variety of other topics. Clearly, it’s not possible to publish all operational data. We wouldn’t undermine ongoing investigations and certainly had to be mindful of privacy issues. However, we shared as much as possible. It may not always be easy, particularly if the results are not flattering, but honesty and authentic engagement are essential to building trust. Independent surveys showed that our relationship with the community benefited significantly as a result. 

As we look forward, at a time when budgets will, no doubt, be tight and police will face ever-growing demands for service, it’s clear that robust technology tools will be essential to the delivery of effective policing. 

However, there is a ‘but’. And it’s that technology is developing at an incredibly fast pace - so fast that the capabilities available to police services could undermine important democratic principles. There are growing community concerns around privacy and data retention. License plate readers are a good example. People are not necessarily concerned that their license plates are captured by a tolling system on the highway, but they probably would want to know if police have access to data from such systems, how long that data is retained, and with whom it is shared. 

Most people are reasonable and understand that we have to strike a balance. But it is incumbent on us as law enforcers and service providers to present them with certain scenarios and potential solutions, and to ask if they are willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy for a safer neighborhood. The more we communicate, and the more transparent we are, the more the community will trust our judgment. Of course, consulting the public isn’t always a smooth process, but a bit of healthy tension is a key element of democratic governance. 

Failure to consult, in my view, is deeply problematic. If the community or their elected leaders find out that the police department has purchased technology that violates democratic principles without consultation, I believe we contravene the letter and the spirit of Peel’s ideals. We have already seen facial recognition trials become contentious and there is concern around new AI applications designed to anticipate crime but which seem to introduce human racial biases into their results. These developments, in particular, must be handled with care – and a great deal of openness. 

I have interacted over the years with lots of vendors and appreciate companies, like Axon, that engage in meaningful conversations about the impact new technologies may have. In a democracy, we all – including the manufacturers – have a responsibility and need to pull together to succeed. Or, as Peel put it, “The police are the people, and the people are the police.”

I think Axon is unique in creating an AI Ethics Board. As a manufacturer, Axon is taking responsibility and addressing the issues before their products are released.

For example, when Axon was contemplating integrating facial recognition in their cameras, they consulted us. The board consists of some incredible researchers and civil liberties experts as well as a couple of us with police experience. After a thoughtful process and some spirited discussions, we landed unanimously at the recommendation to not use this technology until it improves, because we were concerned by troubling data about misidentifications. I thought it was a bold and admirable decision of the CEO to follow our recommendation. 

It’s great to think that there is a vendor out there, who is actually taking responsibility at the front end, rather than flooding the market with products that are attractive but could have significant privacy implications. 

As a police chief, I had some really smart people on my team, but the more people we have contemplating these issues and potential risks associated with these products, the better. More companies should be thoughtful and transparent in their processes. 

ARTICLE: FOUR WAYS TO PUT PEEL’S PRINCIPLES INTO PRACTICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Four Ways to Put Peel's Principles Into Practice in the Digital Age

In our multimedia, data-driven world, the interfaces used in emergency control rooms are becoming outdated. So much so that it’s time to find a new solution fit for the 21st century. So says Josh Pepper, Axon’s Vice President of Product Management, who leads the development of Axon’s solutions for operations and control centres.

Emphasising the need for a new approach to dispatch, Josh says: “I’ve banned the term CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) on my team. It stems from the 1960s and doesn’t make any sense anymore. It’s like saying ‘computer-aided Facebook’. There is no other Facebook, or dispatch. We need a whole new category.”

Indeed, dispatch seems decades behind in terms of technology. In daily life, communication via video, links, messages and photos is the norm, but control centres still largely rely on a ticketing system as well as radio. “It’s like sucking all of that information through a straw,” as Josh puts it. “Google Maps knows where you are, but 999 doesn’t in a lot of places. Being able to text the emergency services would just be the tip of the iceberg – we should be able to video call or FaceTime them as well, which would also give them much richer information.”

Alongside the need for a more information-rich, dexterous and modern interface to help control teams to make decisions, the public expects its agencies to be supported with the best systems available. However, as this review by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch concludes, to date, there’s been a far greater focus on emergency medical response systems. It goes on to call for the optimisation of operations systems for both police and firefighting teams. 

Anyone who’s been in a dispatch room will recognise just how important it is in helping officers on the ground respond to incidents – a fact that’s vividly underlined by a recent experiment conducted by the University of Colorado in 2019. It showed that receiving accurate information from the dispatcher can be a matter of life and death: 62% of participants fired a gun in error when primed with inaccurate information, compared to 6% when given the correct facts.  

The experiment introduces the theoretical concept of cognitive heuristics, which looks at how different factors influence decision making when under pressure. It highlights the importance of accurate information at dispatch as it shows that police officers (like everybody else) are likely to interpret new events (for example, a suspect pulling a phone from his pocket) in line with their previously constructed interpretation (in this case, the dispatcher telling the officer that a gun was likely to be present).

While dispatch hasn’t evolved in step with technology over the last two decades, our understanding of how the brain works has. With advances in neuroscience as well as psychology, we have a much better understanding of what influences our decision making. Ultimately, this can help us to devise systems that optimise our capabilities for critical thinking.

Likewise, we’re also beginning to understand the limits of our ‘cognitive load’ and how going beyond it lowers our decision-making ability and causes stress. This is relevant for dispatchers, who still largely rely on radio to assess situations which can be especially challenging when streams of messages are being sent back from multiple officers in the field. It’s a noisy medium and, in addition to trying to process other data, the pressure on operators can be extreme. In fact, stress is thought to be a strong contributor to the high staff turnover in dispatch centres. This is estimated to be between 30% and 50% a year, underlining the need to find more effective ways to help operators work.

Referring to the use of radio for dispatch, Josh says: “It’s like trying to coach a football team over the phone – it’s difficult! With our real-time operations platform we’re looking at how we can put everybody involved in the decision-making process in the field of play – albeit virtually. We’re using video streamed from CCTV, bodycams and dashcams to enable operators to see what’s happening in real time. And we’re augmenting this view with data signals that can tell the dispatcher if an officer is standing, running or wrestling or if a gun is unholstered or TASER armed.” 

It’s now 20 years since the first TETRA and APCO-25 radio systems provided nationwide voice coverage for Public Safety teams. Over the time, dispatch processes have been refined. And the advent of new technology, including mapping and resource systems, has helped improve incident response. But in many ways, control centres have not kept pace with the technology evolution, especially around taking advantage of video, sensors from data, social media and much more. For Josh and his team, the opportunity to rethink dispatch was therefore hugely exciting. 

The team has been fortunate in spending time over the last few years with many agencies and in hitting the road with officers to understand what they need from a dispatch system. They then integrated the research into their real-time operations platform, which harnesses signals from sensors in the field, enabling users to “know before it’s voiced”, to coordinate responses and communicate more effectively. 

Josh concludes: “I wanted to start this project with the end in mind, which is giving everybody involved in the response to an incident a clear picture of what is happening on the ground. Digital technology is incredibly powerful and this is a great opportunity to put it into the service of public safety. We’re confident that we can transform situational analysis in a way that supports decision making and optimises incident response without overloading operators with too much data to process.”

ARTICLE: IT’S TIME TO RE-THINK DISPATCH

It's Time to Re-think Dispatch

TAPPING INTO THE COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE OF THE POLICE FORCE

Collective intelligence takes many forms and has been shown to outperform individuals' decision making. Axon has devised a process that draws the insights and wisdom of its customers, allowing them to directly feed into product development. This, for example, made Axon's unique evidence sharing capability with the Crown Prosecution Service possible. Here are six prerequisites:

A well-functioning process and good communications

At the heart of it, is an agile set up that allows to quickly act on customers' needs in times of rapid technological and societal changes.

For example, with sky-rocketing amounts of digital evidence, police officers spent a lot of time copying and delivering CDs. The Met currently shares around 5.500 media clips with the Crown Prosecution Service every month – this used to mean that they had to make 3 DVDs per clip and then hand-deliver them, taking up considerable amounts of officers' time.

Axon had set up a user group with representatives of three police forces and when Mike Ashby-Clarke joined as the UK's Axon manager, he wanted to work with this group to find a way how police could share evidence digitally via Axon Evidence. He says, 'Axon managed to deliver this sharing capability of Axon Evidence in only six months, while the government has tried and failed to implement such a move for six years now. We got Greater Manchester Police, the Metropolitan Police Service and the West Midlands Police together to make sure the CPS sharing link was suitable for all those three big forces and for the CPS. West Midlands Police reports that every time an officer uses a photo exhibit around two hours is saved with Axon Evidence over the previous manual based system.'

He believes that it's all down being agile enough to respond to changing demands quickly. He says, 'Our digital products are constantly evolving, ensuring, for example, that our systems can integrate any national programmes as and when they become a reality.'

/ A WELL-FUNCTIONING PROCESS AND GOOD COMMUNICATIONS

At the heart of all collective intelligence is a process that works well. It can be formal, or informal, or a combination of both.

At Axon UK, the initial user group meetings that gave rise to Axon Evidence's sharing capability, have evolved now into a formal process. Now Axon hosts four two-day meetings a year, which are centred around the National Change Request Log.

These meetings start with a closed meeting for representatives of the police force, followed by a session run by Axon. Ashby-Clarke says, 'We normally fly over a couple of key developers in current projects, from the US to answer questions and share our roadmap, which is often driven by previous change requests from the group. We close off with a Q&A session about the latest innovations, as well as anything that is still outstanding from the previous meeting. Between these meetings, the Met  (who chair the meetings) and our engineering team meet to assess progress, which we share with all members.'

/ PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY AND AN OPEN FLOOR

An essential prerequisite for collective intelligence to arise is 'psychological safety'. It means that members can contribute without fear of embarrassment. Google, which is known for their focus on collective intelligence uses this principle as the foundation of their teamwork.

In order to give the police complete freedom to gather ideas, Axon is not present during the first day of meetings. Ashby-Clarke says, 'Officers can freely talk about their challenges or what they like or don't like about our products, or what problems they're experiencing. Anybody can put forward an idea, and if it gets verified by the views group, it is put forward and prioritised according to how many voices were in favour of it.'

Collective intelligence thrives with diversity. Interestingly, studies have found diverse groups are more collectively intelligent, than homogenous groupings.

Ashby-Clarke thinks that this is also one of the reasons why the Change Request Log is so successful. He says, 'A wide range of representatives from the police forces attend these meetings – from frontline police officers, through to programme managers and ICT architects, there's a real wide range of kind of expertise,' says Ashby-Clarke, who has also started to invite prospective Axon customers as well.

But beyond the process itself, engaging with groups in this way represents a powerful shift: with collective intelligence, the focus is on the collective and the community, rather than the individual or one organisation.

In order for this to work, Axon is relinquishing some control – the sessions are hosted by Axon, but currently chaired by the Met, which presides over the Change Request Log. Together with other forces, they have some autonomy, working with Axon in a mutually beneficial partnership.

Pierre Lévy, the thinker who coined the term collective intelligence in the 90s, wrote, 'The basis and goal of collective intelligence is mutual recognition and enrichment of individuals rather than the cult of fetishised or hypostatised communities.' This is echoed by Ashby-Clarke, who says, 'The police forces who work with us know that we have the best interest of the police forces and the communities they serve at heart. So if senior leaders decide to go with us, it's because they see the benefits to them and the community.'

This process and the UK Change Request Log has already been highly successful and shaped over 100 improvements to Axon's products and Australia and Canada have also set up similar user groups. 

But Axon's commitment to do right by the communities they serve doesn't stop here. The company's ethics board follows similar principles, listening to diverse voices about complex and difficult ethical questions. As the public increasingly and urgently demands that corporations act responsibly, Axon leads the way, showing that it's possible for a company to be profitable as well as ethical. In fact, in the near future companies may need to be ethical in order to be profitable. 

ARTICLE: COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE

Collective Intelligence

As we struggle to come to terms with this new reality, police officers are under even more pressure to keep this country safe. It’s clear that pandemic has made an already stressful job even more challenging as police forces have to enforce the lockdown and deal with a lot of the fall-out from this crisis while minimising the risk of infection. 

Damian Hughes has studied the most successful sports coaches to learn about effective leadership and write the bestselling book 'The Five Steps to a Winning Mindset - What Sport can Teach Us About Great Leadership. And while policing is very different to sport, strong leadership is needed for both. Here, he shares his insights on how leaders can guide their team to behave cohesively and foster resilience. 

We live in a time where we are bombarded with information and digital interruptions - according to some studies 37 an hour, which hamper our efforts to concentrate. The many unknowns of the current crisis also creates ambiguity, which makes it harder to focus. Hughes asks, 'How do you differentiate in the deafening noise of information and distraction? How do you get people to focus? The answer is that in a time of overload you need to keep it simple.' He explains that in times of change, great leaders ask themselves how much information the people in their team are capable of processing. True leadership is not about sending out a lot of relevant messages, but picking the most important and communicate it as simply as possible. This can often be done by delivering the Bottom Line Up Front, also referred to as BLUF, used by the most successful Hollywood writers as well as business executives. 

The heuristics we all develop for everyday life, often don't apply in times of changes. Without being able to fall back on tried and tested systems, reflection is necessary to respond to new challenges intelligently. Hughes says, 'Thinking and processing, as well as retaining information, is crucial for making intelligent decisions. This is why you need to create a space where people have the time to stop and think.' He also underlines the importance to provide an environment where people feel safe to ask questions, trusting that they will be handled sensitively.

To illustrate the importance of emotional intelligence, Hughes quotes Emmanuel Steward, the head coach of Kronk, one of the most successful US boxing gyms. He says a coach needs to 'contain [emotions] then explain'. This includes acknowledging and responding to the often difficult feelings of the people he trains. This kind of emotional intelligence is also crucial for leaders during times of stress. 'If we take those three words to heart, we can all successfully handle and thrive in the face of change', says Hughes. He draws on insights from neuroscience, explaining that stress often triggers a 'freeze, fight or flight' response, rather than activating our more rational thinking circuits. To access these, people need to feel safe, in control and valued, as feeling safe is the key to handling change. 

Abstraction can lead to ambiguity and incorrect interpretations. 'Strip language of anything that could be misconstrued,' says Hughes. He then cites a quote, which is often attributed to Albert Einstein: 'If you can't explain it simply to a six-year-old, you don't understand it well enough.'

Stories have the power to inspire, as our brains are prepared to listen to and absorb narratives more readily than fact. 'In times of change, telling stories is the most effective tool you can use,' he says. And the best way to tell them is, of course, simply. Pixar is, for example, extremely good at simple but poignant stories always following the following structure:

'Have I created time and space to stop and think?'

'Have I stripped my language of jargon to make it accessible and understandable?'

'Have I got stories to illustrate how people have navigated change?'

'If you have said, yes, I want to give you confidence that you have the skills to survive and thrive during change.'

ARTICLE: Leadership in Times of Crisis

Leadership in Times of Crisis

Digital technology has advanced more quickly in the last 20 years than any other technological revolution.

It poses several interesting challenges for law enforcement. But it also offers solutions to deal with them – especially adopting agile software platforms that can help agencies work in more versatile ways: so says Bryan Wheeler, Axon’s Vice President and head of product development for Axon Records. In this article, Bryan:

Explains why digital technology may not always deliver anticipated benefits

Calls for technology to be a true force multiplier to give agencies superpowers that eliminate tedious, inefficient work

And outlines a manifesto for change to encourage a less risk-averse approach to decision-making and the adoption of versatile technology that enables agencies to work in more nimble and innovative ways

Digital technology has transformed every facet of modern life. We’ve seen breathtaking advances in areas like computing, social media, communications, and medicine.

Even before COVID, our day-to-day interactions were increasingly moving online. This can have far-reaching implications, including the types of problems the police have to respond to.

There are whole new classes of offences, like cyberbullying and online fraud, that weren’t even our vernacular 10-20 years ago. And the rate at which crime evolves typically outpaces the speed at which our criminal justice can adapt, leading to challenges in the way we police and prosecute crime in the digital world.  

We also see a high degree of asymmetry in terms of technology adoption. First, law enforcement officers often have access to better devices and applications in their personal lives than in their professional lives, which can lead to frustration with the tools they have on the job. Additionally, members of the public engaged in criminal activity are often quite adept at adopting technology as soon as it’s available and certainly do not pause to consider the ethical implications of their technology. This makes law enforcement agencies feel like they are at a distinct technological disadvantage.

Increasingly, the public assumes, for good reason, that technologies like body worn cameras are ubiquitous. There is an expectation that every police incident is captured on video and subsequently available to the public. But in many jurisdictions this is not the case. Furthermore, people are often surprised to find that officers routinely use pen and paper for critical workflows – despite the fact that all of these workflows could be done more efficiently in a digital world.  

However, the adoption of digital technology is no guarantee that an agency becomes more effective. When a piece of technology does not truly meet the objectives of an agency, it can lead to even greater inefficiencies, resulting in police forces requiring even more people to do the same work.

/ NEW CIRCUMSTANCES CALL FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

It is critical that public money is invested prudently. Tender programmes can therefore be exhaustive and exhausting. As a result, many technology vendors have far greater expertise in navigating the procurement process than they do in driving technological innovation. This dynamic is compounded by a selection process that is so slow that, by the time the technology is procured and deployed, it may be out of date. Furthermore, with budgets tight, there may be a reluctance to invest in new systems, resulting in technology landscapes that are often outdated and complex. 

With many agencies managing an increased workload, we simply can’t afford such inefficiencies. Technology must be a force multiplier and to help give agencies superpowers that eliminate tedious, inefficient work. We need a new way to adopt technology that is less risk averse and more easily adaptable to ever-changing conditions.

/ A MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE: THREE WAYS TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY

Working backwards from outcomes: If an agency wants to keep up with the digital transformation, it needs to think about outcomes, rather than individual features of the technology itself. If you create a tender for a horseless carriage, you will certainly get a horseless carriage. If instead, you want a faster way for people to get from point A to point B, make that outcome the focus of your tender. In addition, you should partner with vendors that are committed to continually improving these outcomes. 

Being iterative and agile: Agile development takes an iterative approach to technology development. Every couple of weeks, project teams check in to re-evaluate what the most important factors are to help an agency achieve the desired outcome. If a course change is needed, this is easily made, enabling systems to be updated on an ongoing basis rather than once a year or even longer. 

Deploying flexible solutions: Historically, law enforcement agencies have gone several years between major system upgrades. This process is massively disruptive to end-users who must go through significant training on substantially different software packages. The private sector has widely adopted cloud-based solutions. In the software-as-a-service model, incremental updates are available on a frequent basis. The approach I’m recommending is similar to what we see in consumer businesses. I don’t go to a two-day training every time Apple updates my iPhone. Instead, the software highlights what's new, and I quickly start using the new features.

If we want our police agencies to fulfil their missions and keep our communities safe, it’s critical that they approach technology in an interactive and agile fashion that prevents them from perpetually falling behind. 

HOW AXON INNOVATES TO EQUIP THE POLICE WITH TOOLS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

At Axon we listen to our customers and innovate on their behalf. This has led us to develop into an unapologetically cloud-oriented technology provider, continually pushing the boundaries of how we put technology in the service of public safety. 

We have been pioneers in this space for 25 years, so we are familiar with the technology adoption curve, which has shown that, at the beginning, most people will misunderstand you and we’re ok with that. 

When we first pioneered TASER devices 25 years ago, a lot of people said ‘I don’t get it’. Today, we have the AB3 bodycam with capabilities like live-streaming and always on connectivity, again, some agencies don’t know what to make of it. 

It’s the same with report writing. We ask, ‘If you have body-worn cameras, couldn’t we automatically write most of that report by using AI?’ The very definition of innovation is doing things that have never been done before.  

Our innovations are based on working closely with our customers to achieve their outcomes, such as increasing officer efficiencies and reducing stress. To do so, we release enhancements to our software every month. 

One of the major projects we’ve been working on is merging two police systems that have traditionally always been separate – records and evidence. For example, in a case in Axon Records, you can press a button that allows police officers to instantly send an SMS with a link that could be used to upload evidence. So if there was a burglary at a hotel, for example, historically, a detective would have had to drive there, burn CCTV footage onto a DVD and then upload and process it. Now all of this is done with a single click. 

This is a prime example of software being able to break down historical and outdated barriers to create efficiencies and equip the police forces with tools fit for the digital age.

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