Smart Prevention: Turning the Promise into Practice

How can we ensure “Smart Prevention” works in practice? The promise of technology to support policing is often undermined by a failure to understand the complex human dynamics that enable policing to operate in the real world. Simplistic models of practice are adopted that suit the limitations and development priorities of technologies, making such solutions technology-centred rather than human practice-centred. New ways of working are postulated on emerging technological capabilities, while the impacts of these may be poorly understood and not properly considered.

Such an approach acts to undermine the perceived value and practicability of technologies that, if better designed and implemented, could provide useful benefits that support the roles and priorities of human end-users.

This presentation will draw on insight gained through the EU-funded project Cutting Crime Impact (CCI). CCI seeks to develop practical toolkits addressing high-impact petty crime for six law enforcement agencies (LEAs) from across the continent.