ACE develops roadmap for first police AI lab
Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) has developed a range of options for artificial intelligence (AI) labs to inspire and enable further innovation in policing.
October 13, 2025
Written by Paul Jack
Photo: Police College
AI is recognized to play a key role in shaping the future of police services, enhancing capabilities by making investigations more sophisticated and efficient and freeing up police officers’ time.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) wants to establish UK police forces as leaders in responsible applied AI, but despite a notable increase in experimentation across existing, new or anticipated challenges, these are largely confined to niche capabilities or individual forces.
ACE was asked to explore a high-level operating model for how its in-house AI lab can stimulate and enable greater innovation by bringing together technical expertise from industry and academia and applying cutting-edge research to problem and data monitoring.
We conducted a research exercise with six suppliers to explore how AI Lab can provide law enforcement and their partners with the environment, support, and expertise they need to develop, avoid risk, and rapidly deploy trusted AI technology.
The study considered questions such as how such an AI lab would be developed and delivered, how it would work with forces, what value it would provide, and how it would work with existing technology-focused policing disciplines.
As part of the discovery effort, two stakeholder workshops were held, covering areas such as target system mapping, technology assessment and capability baseline setting, value cases and delivery models.
ACE said challenges and considerations in core areas such as skills and talent, data access and governance, funding and facilities (virtual, physical and hybrid) were also considered. The study also explored how existing work in areas such as data science, analytics, and synthetic data can accelerate and complement the development of AI labs.
Ultimately, three options for the AI Lab design and operating model were developed and summarized in a final report with bronze, silver, and gold badges, along with a high-level three-year roadmap and costs to move the lab from concept to operational functionality.
Bronze was ultimately discounted as it was a continuation of existing investment levels and initiatives and could not deliver a national AI lab.
While a silver option that met all policing requirements for the next 1-3 years was considered viable, the gold option was ultimately recommended to build a world-class AI lab with a future-proof design within 18 months.
ACE itself was also used as a model for how to run an effective AI lab.
