uk-police-mcp

An MCP server for UK crime and stop-and-search data from the UK Police API. No API key required.

Usage

Claude CLI

claude mcp add --scope user uk-police -- npx -y ukpolice-mcp

Manual configuration

Add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-police": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["ukpolice-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

get-street-crimes

Returns street-level crimes within a 1-mile radius of a point, or within a custom polygon area.

Parameters:

• category (string, optional) — Crime category slug. Defaults to all-crime. Other examples: violent-crime, burglary, drugs, robbery, theft-from-the-person
• lat (number) — Latitude. Required if poly is not provided.
• lng (number) — Longitude. Required if poly is not provided.
• poly (string) — Polygon boundary as lat,lng pairs separated by colons. Required if lat/lng not provided.
• date (string, optional) — Month in YYYY-MM format. Defaults to latest available.

Example response:

Street-level crimes for (51.5074, -0.1278) — 1 mile radius — 2024-01
Total: 142 crimes
==================================================
By category:
  violent-crime                       38
  anti-social-behaviour               31
  theft-from-the-person               22
  ...

Recent crimes (up to 10):
  [2024-01] violent-crime — On or near Oxford Street (Under investigation)
  ...

get-crimes-at-location

Returns crimes at a specific predefined location point (not a radius search). The API snaps lat/lng to the nearest predefined point.

Parameters:

• date (string, required) — Month in YYYY-MM format.
• location_id (number, optional) — Specific location ID. If provided, lat/lng are ignored.
• lat (number, optional) — Latitude. Required if location_id is not provided.
• lng (number, optional) — Longitude. Required if location_id is not provided.

get-outcomes-for-crime

Returns all recorded outcomes for a specific crime, identified by its persistent ID (returned by other crime tools).

Parameters:

• persistent_id (string, required) — The 64-character persistent crime ID.

Example response:

Outcomes for crime 4b6e3d8a...
==================================================
Crime details:
  Category:  violent-crime
  Month:     2024-01
  Location:  On or near Oxford Street (51.5074, -0.1278)

Outcomes (2):
  [2024-02] Under investigation (under-investigation)
  [2024-04] Offender given a caution (offender-cautioned)

get-stop-and-searches-by-area

Returns stop and searches within a 1-mile radius of a point, or within a custom polygon area.

Parameters:

• lat (number, optional) — Latitude. Required if poly is not provided.
• lng (number, optional) — Longitude. Required if poly is not provided.
• poly (string, optional) — Polygon boundary as lat,lng pairs separated by colons. Required if lat/lng not provided.
• date (string, optional) — Month in YYYY-MM format. Defaults to latest available.

Example response:

Stop and searches for (51.5074, -0.1278) — 1 mile radius — 2024-01
Total: 23
==================================================
By object of search:
  Controlled drugs                         14
  Stolen goods                             6
  ...

By outcome:
  Nothing found - no further action        10
  Arrest                                   8
  ...

Recent records (up to 10):
  [2024-01-15T14:32:00+00:00] Person search (Misuse of Drugs Act 1971) — Controlled drugs → Arrest [Male, 18-24, White]
  ...

get-stop-and-searches-at-location

Returns stop and searches at a specific predefined location ID.

Parameters:

• location_id (number, required) — The location ID to query.
• date (string, optional) — Month in YYYY-MM format. Defaults to latest available.

Rate Limiting

The UK Police API enforces a limit of 15 requests/second (burst up to 30) using a leaky bucket algorithm. Exceeding this returns HTTP 429.

This server handles rate limiting automatically:

• A token bucket (capacity 15, refill 15/s) throttles outgoing requests to stay within the sustained limit
• On HTTP 429, the server waits 1 second and retries automatically (up to 3 retries)

No configuration needed — it works transparently in the background.

Testing with MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node ./build/index.js

License

MIT