Unifying Data for Public Safety: Empowering UK Safeguarding
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Safeguarding the public in the UK is a shared responsibility. From preventing violent crime to protecting vulnerable individuals, the challenge demands coordination across police forces, local councils, healthcare providers, and national government agencies.

The difficulty is not a lack of data — it’s that critical information is fragmented across dozens of systems and agencies, each with different priorities, formats, and governance rules.

Denodo and AWS provide the technological foundation to unify this data into a single, secure, real-time view — enabling agencies to act faster, collaborate better, and prevent harm more effectively. Specialist organisations like Cliff42 bring the operational expertise to make these solutions real, relevant, and ready for the front line.

The Case for Unified Data in Safeguarding

Safeguarding is data-driven by nature: police intelligence, NHS admissions, youth services records, social care case notes, border control reports, and even open-source intelligence from social media.

But when this data remains locked in silos:

  • Patterns go unnoticed until it’s too late.
  • Prevention efforts are delayed.
  • Agencies can’t coordinate effectively in high-risk situations.

The solution:

  • AWS delivers the secure, scalable cloud and AI/ML services to ingest, process, and analyse data in real time.
  • Denodo provides the logical data layer that federates live data from multiple agencies into governed, role-based views without replicating sensitive information.

Together, AWS and Denodo make it possible for safeguarding partners to see the same trusted intelligence — instantly.

Special Call-Out: Knife Crime as a Starting Point

Knife crime is one of the UK’s most visible safeguarding challenges, affecting communities, public health services, and law enforcement.

Key data sources in tackling knife crime include:

  • Police seizure records (time, location, weapon type)
  • AI image recognition (e.g., Knife Hunter classifying seized knives and tracing sources)
  • NHS A&E admissions (anonymised injury data identifying hotspots)
  • Local authority safeguarding records (youth interventions, school exclusion data)
  • Border/import records (tracking illegal knife supply routes)
  • Open-source intelligence (social media, dark web markets)

The problem? These datasets live in separate systems. Without integration, it’s impossible to connect a knife seized in one borough with an injury recorded in another, or with intelligence on a suspected supplier.

With AWS + Denodo:

  • AWS hosts AI models, runs hotspot prediction, and maps knife supply networks.
  • Denodo unifies AWS outputs with live data from police, NHS, councils, and national agencies — creating a single operational view for rapid, coordinated action.

Starting with knife crime builds a repeatable framework for tackling other safeguarding threats: gang exploitation, domestic abuse, cybercrime, and more.

The Role of a Cliff42-Type Company

Technology is only part of the answer. To succeed, public safety initiatives need partners who understand how to align tools with operational reality.

Organisations like Cliff42, led by experienced public protection technologists such as Simon Clifford, play a vital role in:

  • Translating safeguarding needs into technical solutions — ensuring the technology directly supports operational workflows.
  • Coordinating multi-agency adoption — aligning data access, governance, and usage agreements across police, health, and local authorities.
  • Deploying innovation at pace — integrating specialist tools (AI recognition, CCTV analytics, predictive models) into the unified data fabric quickly.
  • Driving measurable outcomes — ensuring initiatives can prove their impact through before/after performance metrics.

In practice, this means that AWS and Denodo provide the capabilities, but SMEs like Cliff42 make them deployable and impactful in real safeguarding environments.

How AWS and Denodo Enable Multi-Agency Safeguarding

Capability

AWS Role

Denodo Role

Outcome

Secure, scalable data hosting

Amazon S3, Lake Formation, IAM

Federates data without moving it

Trusted, governed access for all agencies

AI/ML analytics

SageMaker, Rekognition, Lookout, Forecast

Feeds AI models complete, live data

Accurate predictions and hotspot mapping

Real-time data ingestion

Kinesis, Lambda

Joins streaming data with static datasets

Live situational awareness

Network & supply chain analysis

Neptune, Redshift

Integrates results with other agency data

Disrupts supply routes and criminal networks

Outcome tracking

QuickSight, Redshift ML

Combines performance metrics across partners

Evidence-based policy and funding decisions

Impact: From Siloed Systems to Shared Safeguarding Intelligence

With AWS and Denodo at the core, and SMEs like Cliff42 ensuring frontline alignment:

  • Police can access a single operational view of relevant intelligence in seconds.
  • Healthcare can share anonymised injury data that feeds directly into prevention strategies.
  • Local authorities can coordinate interventions for at-risk individuals in near real time.
  • National agencies can monitor trends and adapt legislation based on complete evidence.

Conclusion

Public safety depends on fast, accurate, and shared intelligence. AWS and Denodo make it possible to unify data across agencies securely and in real time. Specialist organisations like Cliff42 ensure these capabilities are embedded where they matter most — on the front line.

Starting with knife crime, this unified approach can transform safeguarding across the UK — protecting communities, saving lives, and building a stronger, more connected public protection ecosystem.

Breakout Box 1: Knife Crime Framework Benefits

Starting point → scalable safeguarding model

With AWS + Denodo in place, agencies gain:

  • Hotspot prediction — AI models identify where knife crime is most likely to occur next.
  • Rapid incident correlation — link a seizure, an A&E admission, and a suspect in minutes.
  • Supply chain disruption — trace knives from seizure to retailer/importer and shut down illegal routes.
  • Multi-agency visibility — police, NHS, and councils all work from the same live intelligence.
  • Template for other threats — once in place, the same framework applies to gang violence, domestic abuse, county lines, and more.

Breakout Box 2: How to Work with a Cliff42-Type Partner

Turning technology into operational safeguarding

Specialist SMEs and SIs bring:

  • Operational translation — align AWS + Denodo capabilities to frontline workflows.
  • Multi-agency coordination — negotiate and implement data-sharing agreements.
  • Rapid integration — plug in AI recognition, CCTV analytics, and other specialist tools.
  • Outcome focus — design programmes with measurable before/after impact.
  • Change enablement — train staff, refine processes, and ensure adoption sticks.

Result: The unified data fabric becomes a working part of day-to-day safeguarding — not just a technology project.

Errol Rodericks
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