RAI provides the police service with essential research, analysis, and knowledge services to inform decision-making and practice. RAI works in collaboration with the police service and academic sector to identify evidence of 'what works' in policing, and to share and enable the use of best practice.

RAI's functions

RAI is a unit of social researchers and statisticians, analysts, and information specialists based in the National Police Library and POLKA (Police OnLine Knowledge Area - our online collaboration platform on the police restricted national network).

What do we do?

• With over 90 organisations signed up (including all police forces in England and Wales), the Knowledge Bank on POLKA is the principal way of sharing what's new, what works and what's promising in policing. Police users can download practice examples, access the evidence, and join discussions there.
• RAI reviews the 'what works' evidence, and collaborates with the police service to conduct new research and analysis to build the evidence base in priority areas such as predictive crime mapping and leadership development.
• RAI supports the service to identify threats and opportunities by horizon scanning.
• The Research Map (originated by the National Policing Improvement Agency) is a resource of policing-related research within the academic community, and helps researchers to collaborate and see other contributions across the sector.
• RAI provides robust advice on statistics, research, analysis and interpretation of a full range of scientific sources and ensures the College - and the wider police service - meets the relevant government standards.
• The National Police Library at Bramshill contains the foremost collection of policing resources in Europe.