TOEX Capabilities Environment: Scaling secure Azure based data and AI capabilities across UK Policing

Overview

UK policing faces increasingly complex challenges when tackling organised exploitation, with work spanning force boundaries, threat types and large volumes of sensitive data. To respond effectively, investigators need secure, scalable data as well as the AI tools that can be used confidently in live operational environments, placing insight directly into the hands of frontline professionals who need it most.

The Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme (TOEX) is reshaping how UK policing responds to organised exploitation. Building on the success of its original partnership with Simpson Associates, TOEX is now delivering a national Capabilities Environment built on Microsoft Azure, providing fast, accurate insight to thousands of front‑line professionals.

Problem

Policing faces one of the toughest challenges in the UK – tackling organised exploitation that crosses force boundaries, threat themes, and technology systems. Investigators often work within:

• Complex and fragmented IT landscapes.
• Manual, time consuming processes that slows investigations.
• Disconnected intelligence sources that make it difficult to form a clear picture.
• An increasing need for secure, nationally governed cloud platforms aligned to policing standards.
  

TOEX recognised that isolated tools and local workarounds were not enough. What policing needed was a secure, governed, and scalable Azure data platform. One that could host advanced applications and place insights directly into the hands of front‑line officers, quickly and safely.

Solution

To meet policing’s national need for scalable capability, TOEX and Simpson Associates co-designed the Capabilities Environment. This is a secure Microsoft Azure platform aligned to policing governance and built to accelerate operational outcomes.

At the heart of the environment, there are 11 AI enabled and data driven applications, each developed to solve real challenges faced by investigators on the front line. These include Translate, Data Analyser & Review Tool (DART), Intelligence Classification Engine (ICE), Transcribe, Scan Assist, Wing It, Map Scraper, Client Eye, Companies House Explorer, and more.

These tools are now available at the touch of a button, within a nationally assured environment that ensures security, compliance, and operational readiness from day one.

Alongside the platform itself, Simpson Associates deliver a continuous Managed Service, underpinning TOEX’s ability to operate at scale. This includes:

• Proactive Azure platform monitoring and performance management
• Security, compliance, and governance oversight aligned to policing standards
• Ongoing support for users and force contacts.
• Regular optimisation and updates to the hosted tools.
• A proven delivery framework that turns new ideas into deployable AI and data applications.
  

This managed service ensures that TOEX’s tools remain highly available, resilient, and ready for use in live investigations – therefore enabling policing innovation to scale safely and sustainably.

Key Benefits

A Secure Azure Platform Purpose built for Policing 

By bringing 11 applications together in a single governed environment, UK policing now has a consistent, secure way to access advanced analytics and AI driven capabilities. Officers and analysts can work faster, more intelligently, and with greater confidence.  

Significant efficiency gains

The environment has already generated over £56 million in saving opportunities* and returned 47,000 hours of officer time back to the front line*. Pat Thompson, Technical Lead at TOEX details the transformative power of the Capabilities Environment below:

Designed with governance from day one  

Security and compliance are embedded into the platform, with governance continuously maintained and monitored through Simpson Associates’ Managed Service. This ensures that tools remain fit for purpose as threats, standards, and operational requirements evolve.

Built for national scale and future growth 

With nearly 5,500 users (as of late March 2026) and demand set to double or triple in the future, the platform is built to grow. New tools can be developed, hosted, and deployed quickly, turning innovative ideas into operational capability faster than ever before.

A long term, trusted partnership

This project builds directly on the foundations of the earlier TOEX Data Platform. The continued partnership between TOEX and Simpson Associates has created a repeatable, agile model for innovation in policing – where ideas, governance, and delivery are brought together to produce real-world impact.

*Data taken from late March 2026. 

Conclusion

The TOEX Capabilities Environment represents a significant step forward in how UK policing accesses intelligence, scales innovation, and supports officers on the front line. By combining nationally assured governance with a suite of powerful operational tools, TOEX and Simpson Associates have created a platform that delivers measurable impact today and is ready to support the complex needs of tomorrow.

Built on years of trusted partnership and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for victims, the Capabilities Environment is now enabling investigators across all 43 UK forces to work faster, smarter, and with greater confidence. As demand continues to grow, the platform provides a strong, scalable foundation for future tools and ideas. This therefore ensures policing has the capability it needs to stay ahead of organised exploitation, unlocking the power of data for good.

This case study clearly demonstrates how Microsoft Azure data and AI expertise can be applied to build secure, scalable Azure data platforms for complex UK policing environments. Drawing on experience in Azure based data transformation and applied AI, Simpson Associates work with blue light organisations to deliver nationally governed data platforms that support frontline activity and evolving operational needs.

Project stats 

Since going live, the TOEX Capabilities environment has delivered clear, measurable benefits for frontline policing and investigative teams.

*Data taken from late March 2026.