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As Chief Digital Information Officer for Wiltshire Police and Chair of the National Change Board for Digital Data and Technology, John Derryman sits at the intersection of local policing challenges and national transformation. Speaking to Catherine Levin on the latest episode of For Every Response, he discusses infrastructure, AI, cyber resilience and why investment remains the biggest barrier to progress.
Starting from a career in finance and now serving as Chief Digital Information Officer for Wiltshire Police while also chairing the National Change Board for Digital Data and Technology, John’s role spans local, regional and national policing priorities. Those priorities are becoming increasingly complex.
One of John’s perspectives comes from his national role. Every week, he works with colleagues from across UK policing through Police Digital Services, the National Change Board and regional governance structures. The National Change Board brings together representatives from all 43 police forces to examine digital and technology change programmes and consider how local investment decisions align with wider national priorities.
These connections help reduce duplication and create opportunities for shared learning, and discussions increasingly extend beyond policing itself. Whether examining estates strategies, AI governance or future control room technologies, collaboration with fire and ambulance services is becoming increasingly important.
“We need to think about how blue light partners are also using technology, and how we can join up.”
Artificial intelligence is rarely far from any conversation about the future of policing, yet John is keen to emphasise the importance of caution alongside enthusiasm.
“I use the phrase from gold rush to gold standard,” he tells Catherine. While acknowledging the opportunities AI presents, he stresses that policing must avoid being swept along by the tide of other industries’ usage. “Our approach to AI is phased and very deliberate.”
Wiltshire Police has developed a local AI policy aligned with national guidance, focused on ensuring governance, transparency and human oversight remain central to adoption. One analogy has particularly resonated with John. “My colleague Tony Blaker very wisely [likened AI to] a recently recruited, high-potential, new to policing member of staff.”
In practical terms, the force is exploring opportunities to reduce administrative burden through applications such as meeting transcription, email summarisation and document processing, but there are clear boundaries.
“Human oversight is non-negotiable. AI is there to support, not to make decisions.”
Much of the discussion around AI centres on operational efficiency, but John repeatedly returns to the public experience. Technology should ultimately help officers and staff spend more time supporting people and less time navigating administrative processes. The potential use of AI within contact centres is one example.
When asked about the biggest challenges facing policing technology leaders, John immediately highlights the need to balance long-term transformation with immediate operational realities.
“We need to balance the need to prepare for national policing reform at a UK level, and also look at our shorter term priorities and the investment that’s required.”
That challenge is made harder by financial pressures, ageing infrastructure and rising digital demand.
“We do, unfortunately, have to make some very difficult choices across all of the forces in the UK about headcount and infrastructure at the very time when more investment is needed,” he explains.
The scale of technology investment across UK policing is significant, but much of it is consumed by maintaining existing systems. John tells Catherine that last year, the police nationally “spent about 2 billion pounds on systems, of which circa 90% was legacy.” That leaves relatively little available for transformation and innovation, so he advocates throughout the conversation for improved investment in all public services.
Storage requirements, cyber threats and increasing volumes of digital evidence all place additional strain on systems that were often designed for a different era. At the same time, forces are being asked to modernise and embrace emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
A recurring theme across policing technology discussions is the tension between maintaining existing systems and investing in new solutions, but John prefers a slightly different way of describing the challenge – “Innovation versus lights on.”
He points to the Police Digital Strategy 2030 as a key framework for guiding investment decisions, particularly around ambitions such as creating a seamless citizen experience and strengthening collaboration with the private sector. But maintaining day-to-day services remains a significant demand on policing technology teams. The challenge is creating enough capacity to adopt new technologies effectively while maintaining critical services.
While AI attracts headlines, cyber resilience remains one of the most significant concerns facing policing leaders. Wiltshire Police treats cyber as a corporate risk rather than just a technical challenge, with governance structures, assurance activities and regular testing embedded across the organisation. The force conducts penetration testing, scenario exercises and ongoing training programmes, supported by resources from Police Digital Services’ National Management Centre.
As policing prepares for reform, increasing digital demand and rapidly evolving technology, leaders like John are attempting to balance innovation with resilience, transformation with operational reality, and national ambitions with local delivery. The future may be digital, but for now, much of the work remains focused on ensuring the foundations are strong enough to support what comes next.
Catch up with the episode below.
