Helping emergency services keep digital evidence moving

As digital evidence continues to grow across policing and the wider emergency services, organisations are facing mounting pressure to review, redact and share information quickly while maintaining privacy and compliance.

Ahead of The Emergency Tech Show, we spoke to Leanne Moorhouse, Public Safety Lead, Pimloc about breaking the ‘redaction bottleneck’, the responsible use of AI and how smarter digital evidence workflows can improve investigations, support officer wellbeing and strengthen public trust.

What challenges are emergency services facing with digital evidence?

Digital evidence has transformed policing and the wider emergency services. From body-worn video and drones to dash cams and footage submitted by the public, organisations are capturing more digital media than ever before. The challenge is no longer collecting it – it’s managing it.

Every piece of media must be reviewed, retained appropriately, shared securely and where necessary, redacted before it can be disclosed or used as evidence. Organisations must also respond to Subject Access Requests and other disclosure obligations within strict timescales while protecting the privacy of everyone captured in that footage.

“The sheer volume of digital media is creating significant operational pressure. As digital evidence continues to grow, the real challenge is keeping information moving safely, compliantly and efficiently.”

Leanne Moorhouse, Public Safety Lead, Pimloc.

Why is breaking the ‘redaction bottleneck’ so important?

For many organisations, redaction is where digital evidence begins to slow down. As increasing volumes of video, audio and documents are captured, every file containing personal data must be reviewed before it can be shared or disclosed. When that process relies on manual, frame-by-frame review, delays quickly become backlogs.

“Breaking the redaction bottleneck isn’t simply about working faster. It’s about helping organisations improve speed, strengthen compliance and ensure digital evidence is handled securely, consistently and lawfully.”

Reducing time spent on repetitive administrative tasks allows investigators to focus on supporting victims, progressing investigations and protecting the public.

How is AI changing digital evidence handling?

Pimloc believes AI should support professional judgement rather than replace it. Instead, AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as identifying information for redaction, generating transcripts, summarising footage and helping investigators quickly locate relevant material across large volumes of digital evidence.

“Used responsibly, with appropriate governance and human oversight, AI enables more time to be spent supporting victims, investigating crime and protecting the public.”

The company has developed AI-assisted workflows that support these activities while maintaining high standards of privacy and governance, helping organisations process digital evidence more efficiently without compromising trust or compliance.

How can technology improve wellbeing and operational performance?

Digital evidence often places investigators in repeated contact with traumatic incidents as footage is reviewed frame by frame. While technology cannot remove the emotional impact of that work, Pimloc says it can help reduce unnecessary exposure.

Its platform automatically detects and redacts faces from the outset, meaning tasks that once took hours can often be completed in minutes while maintaining appropriate human oversight.

“The people working across our emergency services are our most valuable assets, and reducing unnecessary exposure to traumatic material is one practical way technology can support their wellbeing.”

The company says smarter digital evidence workflows also reduce organisational risk by helping evidence move securely and consistently through investigations and into the wider criminal justice system, reducing backlogs and speeding up disclosure.

What’s next for Pimloc?

As digital evidence volumes continue to grow, Pimloc believes organisations need more than a standalone redaction tool.

The company is expanding its platform to support investigators throughout the wider digital evidence journey, including intelligent search, transcription, translation and collaboration tools. By bringing these capabilities together in a single platform, organisations can spend less time switching between systems and more time acting on the information in front of them.

“Our goal is to help the emergency services spend less time managing digital evidence and more time acting on it.”

What can visitors expect from Pimloc at The Emergency Tech Show?

Pimloc is looking forward to speaking with organisations from across the emergency services to better understand the challenges they face as digital evidence continues to grow.

The company will also host a panel discussion, ‘Breaking the redaction bottleneck: keeping digital media moving’, where organisations using the platform will share their experiences of improving efficiency, strengthening compliance and reducing delays.

“We’d love to share experiences, exchange ideas and explore how we can keep digital media moving safely, efficiently and compliantly.”

Visitors can meet the Pimloc team at the Microsoft Partner Pavilion throughout The Emergency Tech Show on 16-17 September at the NEC, Birmingham. Register for your free ticket here.

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