AI is helping UK police forces turn fragmented data into real-time action

Law enforcement worldwide is under pressure — rising complexity, shrinking budgets and an explosion of AI-driven crime. In response, AI policing modernization looks to replace fragmented legacy tools with unified systems built for today’s threats.

The United Kingdom is feeling that pressure acutely — and that’s where partnerships such as the one between Appian Corp. and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. are stepping in, according to Scott Van Valkenburgh (pictured, right), senior vice president of global partners and alliances at Appian. The goal is to unite a sprawling policing ecosystem and turn data into action.

“We’ve been working on helping the U.K. and the policing systems really come together instead of [relying on] separate units, leveraging the power of Appian to systemize the way that they look at and understand and act [on everything] from records to policing, citizenship, etc.,” Van Valkenburgh said. “My Deloitte colleagues have really nailed this.”

Van Valkenburgh; Andy Willmer (left), partner, U.K. & EMEA policing lead at Deloitte, and Jamie Moore (center), associate director and U.K. policing chief technology officer at Deloitte, spoke with theCUBE’s Dave Vellante at Appian World 2026, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the AI policing modernization and the shift toward data-driven systems to improve operational efficiency and decision-making. (* Disclosure below.)

Moving forward with AI policing modernization

Policing in the U.K. is facing pressure from increasingly complex demand, including a shift toward online and AI-driven crime, according to Willmer. At the same time, forces must deliver better outcomes with fewer resources while managing broader public sector cost constraints. Making matters harder, the U.K.’s decentralized policing structure has left forces saddled with outdated technology ill-equipped to meet the moment.

“We have a very distributed structure of policing in the U.K. — 43 geographic police forces, most of which have their own technology teams,” Willmer said. “There’s some really good examples of collaboration between them, but actually as a consequence, there’s quite a lot of legacy technology that needs to be replaced and upgraded to deal with [challenges].”

Those challenges include managing crime investigations, processing detainees and shepherding case files through to the Crown Prosecution Service, according to Willmer. The goal is embedding AI into complex operational workflows — not as a bolt-on, but as a core part of how forces record, investigate and act.

At stake is nothing less than whether U.K. policing can keep pace with a world where crime has gone digital and decisions need to happen in real time, Moore noted.

“The next-generation solution really gives them three things: the ability to do things on the move, using the data that they have better — getting those insights, joining up the intelligence picture — and then the flexibility to not just build a solution that’s great now, but one that we can continuously change and adapt and evolve over time,” Moore said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Appian World 2026:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Appian World. Neither Appian, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE