Government launches £4m AI mapping challenge to predict crime

The UK government has launched a new artificial intelligence mapping initiative to help police predict and prevent crime, with a national rollout targeted for 2030.

Under the Concentrations of Crime Data Challenge, technology companies, universities, and other innovators are being invited to design an interactive, real-time crime mapping system capable of identifying where offences are most likely to occur. The aim is to give law enforcement and local partners early intelligence to disrupt criminal activity - ranging from anti-social behaviour to violent crime - before it escalates.

The project’s first phase will see £4 million invested to produce working prototypes by April 2026. These will be developed into a national operational platform by 2030, covering England and Wales.

AI-driven crime forecasting
The envisioned system will combine police, council, and social services data, including criminal records, incident locations, and behavioural patterns, to pinpoint high risk areas. Officials say the AI tools will learn from past trends, helping agencies focus resources more effectively and reduce harm to potential victims.

Announced by Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle during a visit to the Metropolitan Police, the scheme forms part of the government’s £500 million R&D Missions Accelerator Programme. It sits within the Safer Streets Mission, which seeks to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls within the next decade.

Kyle emphasised that prevention is central to the approach: “Our police officers are at their best when they join up to prevent crime rather than react to it, and R&D can deliver crucial tools for them to stay one step ahead,” he said.

The challenge builds on existing Home Office work using hotspot mapping to target knife crime, alongside initiatives such as the summer long Safer Streets programme. Enhanced research and expanded datasets are expected to improve the precision of predictions and allow more sophisticated measurement of intervention outcomes.

The crime data challenge is the second mission in the Accelerator Programme, following a clean energy project aiming to shift two gigawatts of electricity demand from peak periods by 2030. Further challenges will target NHS modernisation, widening access to opportunity, and driving economic growth.