Technical Support
As well as operational support, TOEX also provides access to technical capabilities and tools to assist forces with their complex cases.
TOEX Capabilities Environment (CE)
The programme continues to develop and test new technical capabilities, that are cost-effective, threat-neutral, and enhance the response to organised exploitation.
As well as supporting a secure means to deliver industry innovation to policing investigations, TOEX has refined and developed tools capable of generating significant efficiencies in time and resourcing.
The tools, designed with engagement of data and cyber architects, are each accompanied by their individual Information Risk Assurance Report (IRAR), Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and a CHECK standard penetration test. The same standards apply to the Azure platform within which the tools are hosted. All tools feed into a bespoke audit application which captures metrics around each use of each tool.
TOEX have proven invaluable cost and time-savings across complex investigations using these tools, building efficiencies into the investigation process and facilitating the discovery of previously unknown insight.
Previously only available to TOEX staff, the CE has now expanded to allow direct access by force investigators. Ten forces have onboarded so far with more identified for onboarding in 2025, ensuring the progress of the TOEX technical team and industry partners is bringing time and efficiency savings to an over-stretched frontline.
By April 2025 and following 15 months of operation, use of the tools in the TOEX Capabilities Environment has delivered more than £14 million saving opportunities to policing, with feedback from users being overwhelmingly positive.
TOEX Data Platform
The intelligence and data challenge in supporting criminal investigations is huge – officers must manually search multiple datasets and sources to find information to inform decision-making - which is not only a time-consuming process but may produce inconsistent outcomes and a higher chance of human error.
TOEX recognised this challenge, and together with industry partners, have developed an operational, scaled, cloud-hosted data solution for policing.
The TOEX Data Platform has a unique ability to conflate local, regional & national data allowing valuable assets to focus on high-harm victims and offenders; filling gaps in tactical intelligence; supporting effective investigations and enriching strategic understanding. It is cost-effective and fully scalable.
It enables data to be shared with TOEX by forces, so far within the nine force Athena collaboration, conflating force source data (intel/crime/custody) against OE relevant datasets sourced by TOEX, e.g. Organised Crime Group Mapping (OCGM), County Lines Intelligence Collection Matrix (CLICM), Missing Persons, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and enables cloud-based analytical modelling of the total enriched dataset.
Ultimately, this is used to enhance collaboration, evidence-based decision making, contributes to the safeguarding of vulnerable people and helps pursue those causing harm. This is first for UK policing and is already creating efficiencies in time and resourcing. In addition, it supports the use of explainable machine-learning (i.e. predictive analytics) to identify hidden harm, which can then be flagged for human assessment and review, informing evidence-based activity thereafter.
