Giving Compass' Take:

• According to a RAND Europe analysis, ambulance data can have more information about violent crimes and accident reports than police data. 

• How can police forces utilize ambulance data for crime prevention? Are there opportunities for collaborative efforts to battle high crime rates? 

• Read about how the UK is using AI to help stop crime before it happens. 

The most recent statistics from the UK Office for National Statistics showed that England and Wales have seen an 18 per cent increase in reports of violent crime in the past year.

Alongside this reported increase in violent crime, police forces in England and Wales have been experiencing significant cuts to services, including reductions in the number of frontline officers. As a result, many are searching for solutions that could allow them to do more with less.

One possible solution is using ambulance data. Police forces can use the data to help identify violent crime that goes unreported to police, and aid problem-solving activities to reduce and prevent violence.

RAND Europe analysis on the use of ambulance data found that up to 90 percent of ambulance call-outs for violent incidents were not found in police data, with a high volume of ambulance data being automatically gathered on the location and nature of these incidents.

The study concluded that ambulance data is a new form of intelligence which may have value for violence prevention or reduction activities. However, the question for police forces is how they can gain access to the data and use it to support violence-reduction initiatives effectively.

Read the full article about how ambulance data could help police in England and Wales by Alex Sutherland and Lucy Strang at RAND