The power of Intelligence

North Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable Lisa Winward, hosted the first national Intelligence in Policing conference this week as part of her role as policing’s national lead for intelligence. 

The purpose of the event, held in the West Midlands from 7 to 9 June, was to share learning, innovation and best practice among peers and partners to ensure the vital role of intelligence remains at the forefront of policing and that we continue to ensure the highest quality and ethical standards when it comes to using this key tool to protect our communities.

Intelligence is the lifeblood of policing and forces across the country rely on it as a strategic crime prevention tool, to detect crime, shape operational activity, identify suspects, safeguard vulnerable people, find missing people, and to bring criminals to justice.

It comes in many forms, from CCTV footage and Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to verbal information from police officers on the frontline and from members of the public.

(Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police Lisa Winward)  

Speaking at the end of the conference, Chief Constable Winward, said: “As well as serving North Yorkshire as Chief Constable, it is an honour to be the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for this critical area of policing and to host this first National Intelligence in Policing conference.

“Intelligence plays a part in everything that we do and is a vital tool to enable us to protect our communities and keep them safe. 

“The conference provided a unique opportunity to bring together key people within policing and our external partner agencies to share best practice, learn from each other and how we can continue to utilise technology to its greatest advantage. We cannot tackle many of society’s problems in isolation and it is vital that we work together with our partner agencies and come together to do the very best we can for our communities. Sharing intelligence is key to achieving this.

“The public also play a crucial role in providing us with intelligence. As national lead for intelligence, I would urge anyone who has any information about suspected criminal activity or ongoing investigations in your neighbourhood, to contact the police immediately. Please do not hesitate to call, and don’t ever think that you are wasting our time. Often the seemingly insignificant detail can be extremely useful to an investigation.”

(The main stage at the 2022 National Intelligence Awards)

 

Five questions and answers on intelligence in policing:

What is intelligence?

Intelligence in policing simply means information. Internally it can be known as “intel”.

Why is intelligence so important?

Intelligence provides information to allow us to solve crime and protect people. There are many different types of intelligence some of which is provided internally from police systems and some information is provided externally by members of the public. 

How can intelligence change an investigation?

Information provided by members of the public can often provide the missing section of a jigsaw or the breakthrough in case. Quite often a reliable piece of intelligence can completely change an entire investigation.

How much of policing relies on intelligence?

All parts of policing rely on intelligence. In policing we work on factual information, if we don’t know the facts, we launch an investigation to establish what has happened. Information allows us to solve crimes and protect people.

How can I help with intelligence?

Often if something looks “not quite right” it isn’t. Don’t be afraid to tell us. There are many different ways of contacting the police. These include calling us and reporting information online or passing information via Crimestoppers.

• “Know the signs.” Each crime has different signs that it might be happening. Information on what to look out for can be found on the North Yorkshire Police website here https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/

To contact North Yorkshire Police:

• Call 999 in an emergency.
• To speak to us or provide information it is 101.
• You can also now report crime online Report a crime | North Yorkshire Police
• Or you can report crime anonymously to Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org)