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Google Gemini Expansion and Tool Theft

COLLEGE OF POLICING LIMITED

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

02 Oct 2026 at 09:09

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The College of Policing bought a time-limited pilot to develop and test artificial-intelligence approaches to detecting tool theft, with work expanding to include knife detection. The requirement combines two technically inseparable elements: developing and testing the detection approach, and providing the cloud-based technical infrastructure needed to run the pilot. The infrastructure must meet the College’s security, governance and data-residency requirements. The work covers software and information systems, including custom software development. Delivery is across England, spanning the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West and Wales. The buyer is the College of Policing, the professional body for policing in England and Wales.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to Google Cloud EMEA Limited through a direct award without competition, below the applicable threshold. The contract was signed on 1 September 2026 and runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027. Its value is £140,000 excluding VAT and £168,000 including VAT. The pilot is intended to establish whether the tool-theft detection approach is accurate, cost-effective and scalable enough to justify a production procurement. A formal go/no-go decision is due at or before month twelve. The contract combines the pilot and its supporting infrastructure as one technically inseparable requirement; the procurement was not divided into separate lots. No award scoring or evaluation criteria are stated in the available process details.

This award indicates demand from the College of Policing for applied AI development and the cloud infrastructure needed to test it in a policing context. A credible future competitor would need to combine software development and AI capabilities with a secure, governed environment that can meet data-residency requirements. The requirement is not simply for a cloud platform: suppliers would need to support development and testing of detection approaches for tool theft, with potential relevance to knife detection, and assess whether the approach can perform accurately and cost-effectively at scale. The selected supplier was a large cloud provider, suggesting that the combined infrastructure and delivery requirements were met through a supplier able to provide both cloud services and the technical support for the pilot.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Google Gemini Expansion and Tool Theft

Notice Description

This programme of work, initially focussed on tool theft but expanding to include knife detection, has two components that are operationally distinct but technically inseparable. The first is a time-limited pilot to develop and test AI-enabled approaches to tool theft, with a formal go/no-go decision at or before month twelve on whether the approach is sufficiently accurate, cost-effective, and scalable to justify a production procurement. The second is the technical infrastructure required to conduct that pilot within the College's security, governance, and data residency requirements.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-077f36
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093108-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - without competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72212900 - Miscellaneous software development services and computer systems

72230000 - Custom software development services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£140,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Oct 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
COLLEGE OF POLICING LIMITED
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
COVENTRY
Postcode
CV8 3EN
Postcode Area
Coventry
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG1 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG13 Warwickshire CC
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Rugby
Electoral Ward
Dunsmore
Westminster Constituency
Kenilworth and Southam

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Google Cloud EMEA Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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