The Data Chief

How the Met Police Uses AI to Prevent Crime and Protect Communities


Listen Later

Step into the future of policing where data is a mission-critical asset. Cindi Howson talks with Aimee Smith, Director of Data at the Metropolitan Police, about the Met’s bold data transformation—from digitizing records dating back to 1829 to using AI and cloud tech for smarter, faster decisions. Hear how initiatives like the V100 program and real-time analytics help improve city safety. 

Key Moments: 

  • Genesis of the Met’s Data Strategy (03:35) - The Met's data strategy's origin is traced to former Commissioner Cressida Dick's leadership, who envisioned leveraging data to transform policing, leading to a program building data capabilities and broadening analytics use beyond traditional intelligence and performance applications.  
  • Mission with Data and AI (13:34): The Met's overarching mission to use data and AI for precise decision-making is articulated, acknowledging the complexity of policing's multiple goals: crime prevention, incident response, organized crime intervention, victim service, and custody safety.  
  • Infrastructure Evolution (15:18): The transformation of the Met's data infrastructure over 5 years, from 8 separate operational systems to an integrated one with cloud technology adoption, is described, enhancing analytics and data science capabilities.  
  • V100 Initiative (19:58): The V100 initiative, a data and analytics effort to reduce violence against women and girls by prioritizing individuals with a history of harm, is explained.  
  • Concert Security Powered by Analytics (27:50): The use of ThoughtSpot by frontline officers is illustrated with a sergeant's innovative application for analyzing crime data around events like the Taylor Swift Eras tour to improve policing plans.  
  • AI Agent Development (36:37): An innovative project to build an AI agent that assists frontline officers at crime scenes by providing real-time guidance is outlined, aiming to improve public protection and investigative outcomes.  

Key Quotes:

  • “So if an officer wants to start being able to do their own searches, creating their own sort of planners, thinking about doing their own trend analysis essentially, of crime data, which is great, isn't it? I mean, that's just exactly how you want ThoughtSpot to be used. Every officer has access to that.” - Aimee Smith
  • "I like to think of it as a utility belt—you know how cops wear their utility belt? Well, hanging on there is this ThoughtSpot tool. A sergeant invented a way to use it for planning major events, concerts, to make sure our presence is right. And now that's replicable by other people who want to do the same thing." - Aimee Smith
  • "One of the 5 principles of our business strategy for London to keep it safe is to be more precise in the use of data for decision making. So it's a high-level principle of our strategy. That makes data and analytics much harder, because there aren't enough data specialists and too many data parts to point at all those missions in one go.” - Aimee Smith

Mentions

  • Met Police’s V100 Initiative
  • Met Police Develops an Open Data Strategy with the Open Data Institute
  • Met Police’s Concert Preparation for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour 
  • Cressida Dick Reflects on Public Trust in the Digital Age 
  • The Data Protection Act

Guest Bio 

Aimee Smith's distinguished career in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) spans almost a quarter-century, truly a testament to her profound dedication to integrating robust data into the very core of police decision-making. She embarked on her journey in 2001 as an Intelligence Analyst, steadily rising through the ranks. By 2014, her leadership capabilities led her to head UK Policing’s largest Confidential Intelligence Unit. A pivotal "light-bulb moment" crystallized for her the critical importance of effective data management in driving operational outcomes, inspiring her to passionately spearhead the comprehensive MPS data transformation program. In a landmark achievement, Aimee was appointed as the first Director of Data for the MPS, where in 2019, she successfully established the inaugural Data Office within law enforcement, fundamentally reshaping how the service leverages its information.

Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Data ChiefBy ThoughtSpot

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

74 ratings


More shows like The Data Chief

View all
The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

The McKinsey Podcast

393 Listeners

The AI in Business Podcast by Daniel Faggella

The AI in Business Podcast

169 Listeners

Gartner ThinkCast by Gartner

Gartner ThinkCast

111 Listeners

Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn by Jon Krohn

Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn

296 Listeners

NVIDIA AI Podcast by NVIDIA

NVIDIA AI Podcast

339 Listeners

Data Engineering Podcast by Tobias Macey

Data Engineering Podcast

143 Listeners

DataFramed by DataCamp

DataFramed

267 Listeners

The Story by Mission

The Story

236 Listeners

Mission Daily by Mission.org

Mission Daily

219 Listeners

Practical AI by Practical AI LLC

Practical AI

208 Listeners

IT Visionaries by Mission

IT Visionaries

171 Listeners

Education Trends by Mission

Education Trends

41 Listeners

The Future of Cities by Mission

The Future of Cities

75 Listeners

Marketing Trends by Mission

Marketing Trends

279 Listeners

Find Your Mission by Mission

Find Your Mission

38 Listeners

Hidden In Plain Sight by Mission

Hidden In Plain Sight

87 Listeners

Up Next In Commerce by Mission

Up Next In Commerce

136 Listeners

Me, Myself, and AI by MIT Sloan Management Review

Me, Myself, and AI

106 Listeners

AI Chat: ChatGPT & AI News, Artificial Intelligence, OpenAI, Machine Learning by Jaeden Schafer

AI Chat: ChatGPT & AI News, Artificial Intelligence, OpenAI, Machine Learning

151 Listeners

Possible by Reid Hoffman

Possible

121 Listeners

The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis by Nathaniel Whittemore

The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

552 Listeners

AI For Humans: Making Artificial Intelligence Fun & Practical by Kevin Pereira & Gavin Purcell

AI For Humans: Making Artificial Intelligence Fun & Practical

265 Listeners

HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

HBR On Leadership

162 Listeners

Beyond The Prompt - How to use AI in your company by Jeremy Utley & Henrik Werdelin

Beyond The Prompt - How to use AI in your company

57 Listeners