The National Counter Terrorism Command, UK police forces and academia are behind an Open Source Communications, Analytics and Research (OSCAR) Development Centre.
Co-ordinated through Cardiff University’s Universities’ Police Science Institute (UPSI), the new centre will bring together academics and police practitioners to develop a research evidence base on the use of open source information – public data that can be accessed without covert methods or interception.
UPSI Director, Professor Martin Innes said: “We know that new technologies like social media are transforming the ways people relate, communicate and interact with other, and we are increasingly aware that such developments present both challenges and opportunities for policing.
He said that OSCAR will seek to develop new insights into how police can harness these new sources of information across their investigative, intelligence and engagement functions, ranging from counter-terrorism to community policing.
“With our partners, this is about designing new and innovative policing responses to ensure that we are not trying to tackle 21st century problems with 20th century policing models.”
Funding for the project has been secured through the £10m Police Knowledge Fund, which was jointly launched by the Home Office, the College of Policing and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The aim of the fund is to encourage collaboration between academia and police forces and to increase evidence-based knowledge, skills and problem-solving approaches within policing.
OSCAR will be hosted at Cardiff and will work with others including the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, the University of Surrey, Cardiff Council and the Safer Sutton Partnership, with the UK-wide National Counter Terrorism Command.
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael said: “I am delighted to be supporting this successful funding bid for the new Centre. Social media and other open sources of communication play an increasingly important role in understanding local needs and threats in order to deliver community policing. This successful bid builds on pioneering work between South Wales Police and Cardiff University that we’ve been developing for several years and recognises the importance of how new technology can support approaches to policing that are based on evidence and what works.”
And South Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable, Matt Dukes, said: “The funding further highlights the benefits from encouraging and enhancing collaborative work between academia and the Police. I welcome this significant project, which will support research and development to enable the police to utilise pioneering innovative techniques with existing traditional policing methods.”
