The Digital Categorisation Service takes data from a range of (publicly unspecified) law enforcement databases to create a central “risk rating” for each prisoner. According to the government this means that the risk a prisoner poses in terms of escape, violence or involvement in organised crime should be taken into account when deciding where they should be held.

According to one analysis, 16 per cent of non-white prisoners in a sample had their risk category raised, while just seven per cent of the white prisoners did. In light of these findings, this paper explores the implications of the use of police intelligence data to inform prisoner categorisation.

Published in October 2020 by The Police Foundation.