Aimee Reed, director of data, Metropolitan Police Service

What has been your path to power?

I joined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 2001 as an intelligence analyst. By 2014 I was leading the largest Confidential Intelligence Unit in UK policing, and was accountable for the collection, development and dissemination of covert intelligence into high-end investigations and operations. After passing the Police Strategic Command Course in 2015, I had a data “epiphany” when I realised that operational decision-making was only as good as the effort put into managing the data behind those decisions.

I embarked on an unrelenting mission to get policing to realise it needed to roll its sleeves up and do the data basics, which resulted in me leading the MPS data transformation programme. I have spent the last two years building the first data office in law enforcement through my role as the first director of data for the MPS.

I’m also chair of the National Policy Data Board, in which I lead a wide range of data portfolios. My focus has been on simplifying the way that the police and their partners make effective use of the data they hold and, more importantly, shifting attitudes to be more open and transparent with the public about what can be accessed to understand more about policing.