The University of Essex and Chorus Intelligence Limited KTP 24_25 R3

Police analysts, fraud investigators, and counter-terrorism officers currently sift through vast amounts of text—reports, messages, financial records—to spot people or groups at risk of harm. This project builds software that does that sifting automatically. The University of Essex is partnering with Chorus Intelligence Limited to add artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) to the company’s existing intelligence system. The new functionality will scan unstructured text and flag persons, groups, events, and locations where the combination of probability and potential harm crosses a threshold. It will also surface trends and themes buried in the data. If it works, investigators will no longer have to manually cross-reference dozens of documents to connect a name to a threat. The system could speed up responses to safeguarding risks, fraud rings, or emerging patterns of organised crime. Because the tool is designed for police, government agencies, and financial organisations, the impact is on the quiet infrastructure of public safety—the behind-the-scenes work that decides which tip gets followed up and which lead goes cold. This is applied development, not fundamental science: the goal is a working product for operational use.