NPCC announces Premier League partnership focused on safety and security

The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit and the Premier League already work together to deliver safe and enjoyable matchdays for supporters. Going forward, pilot schemes will explore how new operational approaches can build on this success.

Police forces will work with Premier League clubs in London, Merseyside and the West Midlands, with the first projects rolling out this year set to include: 

*piloting drones to provide an improved picture of what’s happening around football stadiums and help manage risks to public safety more effectively

*leveraging data and Artificial Intelligence-driven predictive modelling to understand crowd dynamics and enhance public safety 

*piloting live intelligence-led facial recognition to identify and prevent serious offenders attending matches, building on the experience of deployments that have already taken place at other major events

The aim is to learn from these projects in order to establish if they enable safer and more effective delivery of large public events, as well as sharing Best Practice, which could then benefit other major events nationwide.

Positive joint approach 

Chief Constable Mark Roberts of the UK Football Policing Unit (and the national lead for football policing) said: “This is a positive joint approach between policing, the Premier League and football clubs to deliver safe and secure football events for supporters and the general public. It enables us to develop technologies that will assist us in our joint efforts. I cannot think of any similar initiative anywhere else in the world. The additional benefit is that it will allow us to develop national capability, which is then transferable to other areas of policing and public safety.”

Chief Constable Rob Carden, the NPCC’s lead for digital, data and technology, stated: “As the national lead for digital, data and technology and a keen football fan myself, I’m delighted to be working alongside the Premier League to explore how, in better using technology, we can make the beautiful game even better and, crucially, safer for the public.”

Carden continued: “The National Data and Analytics Office will be pivotal to the success of this work, unlocking the potential of policing data to better protect fans. In working together with a sector of this size and scale, I look forward to seeing how we can demonstrate the positive impact realised by the use of safe and responsible technology.”

Key priority

Clare Sumner, chief policy and social impact officer at the Premier League, said: “The experience and safety of our fans is a key priority and the Premier League is committed to making our stadiums as welcoming as possible for everyone.”

Sumner continued: “The Premier League recognises the significant contribution that police forces make to the safety of Premier League fans, both on match days and more broadly in local communities where clubs are based. I’m pleased that this partnership will take our collaboration further, building an even stronger relationship between the Premier League and the police.” 

Sarah Jones, Minister of State for Policing and Crime, concluded: “Every fan deserves to feel safe when they go to a game. I welcome the Premier League working with the police to use cutting-edge technology on game days. By working together, we can ease the pressure on police officers, while in parallel improving public safety.”