More than a quarter of England and Wales police forces now involved in Palantir pilots Finding comes as concerns rise about the dependence on overseas suppliers for critical public-sector services Twelve English police forces are piloting Palantir’s data analytics software, according to research by the FT. The newspaper found that forces in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire have all engaged in pilot projects with Palantir, in addition to the Metropolitan Police, whose attempt to procure software from the company is being challenged in court. In some cases, the trials are part of regional Special Operations units, through which neighbouring forces share services and data to counter organised crime and terrorism. In others, forces have undertaken pilots with Palantir on an individual basis. Most of the trials are ongoing, while Lancashire police said it had discontinued the pilot. There are 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, meaning that more than one quarter are currently participating in Palantir pilots. Palantir has not disclosed previously how many police forces it has been working with. The company – founded by Peter Thiel and counting among its customers the Israeli military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – is known for its strategy of offering its services to public service bodies for a very low initial cost in order to gain a foothold. For example, it won an initial NHS contract in 2020, for or a nominal £1. Three years later the company was offered a £330 million contract to build the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP). A group of MPs is urging the government to exercise a break clause in the contract over issues of transparency, vendor lock-in, value for money and data security. In May 2026, The London Mayor’s Office for Policing