“There is a need for more targeted efforts to identify and address bias at the systemic level in digital evidence investigations,” says Nina Sunde, leader of Work Package 2.
Increasing the proportion of externally funded research projects is one of the objectives of the Norwegian Police University College’s R&D strategy. The strategy supports the institution’s long-term ambition to be at the forefront of police science research and the development of the policing profession.
CLARUS is funded by EU Horizon (2023–2026)/UKRI. The project’s vision is to increase objectivity, neutrality and fairness in digital evidence investigations. This will be achieved by identifying sources of bias and error in organisational structures, processes and communication at the systemic level.
Close collaboration with police in five European countries
In CLARUS, researchers from the Norwegian Police University College work closely with police organisations and researchers from Finland, Scotland, Greece and the Czech Republic. CLARUS is led by Andriani Retzepi at The Center for Security Studies (KEMEA, Greece, project coordinator) and Professor Megan O’Neill at the University of Dundee (UK, scientific and technical lead).
One of the work packages was initially led by Professor Brita Bjørkelo before Nina Sunde, a chief superintendent with professorial qualifications, took over. They work alongside PhD candidate Laura vom Kolke (Norwegian Police University College/University of Oslo).
Digital evidence investigations require cooperation and coordination in terms of organisational structures, expertise and socio-technical factors. When investigations cross national borders, differences in legislation and practices must also be taken into account.
The first scientific publication based on the Norwegian Police University College’s work package examines bias in digital evidence work from a systemic perspective and can be read here.
“Knowledge and training on how to identify bias at the systemic level can be improved, for example by incorporating this knowledge into training, promoting a professional culture characterised by mutual professional dialogue, and standardising the terminology used,” says Sunde.
Read more about some of the findings from the work package led by the Norwegian Police University College here, and follow the development of the entire CLARUS project here.
We have used AI to help translate this text, which was originally written in Norwegian