AI and facial recognition to be rolled out as Britain’s ‘broken’ policing system faces sweeping reforms
The home secretary has announced plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence and live facial recognition as he unveiled sweeping reforms to fix Britain’s “broken” policing system.
Shabana Mahmood is investing £140 million to roll out technology she hopes will save six million police hours each year, the equivalent of 3,000 officers, as part of the biggest overhaul of an “outdated” policing model designed for another century.
AI technology will be used to quickly analyze CCTV, doorbell and mobile phone footage, detect deepfakes, conduct digital forensics and speed up administration such as form filling, proofreading and transcription.
Ms Mahmood said: “Criminals are operating with increasingly sophisticated methods, but some police forces are still tackling crime with analogue methods.
“We will use the latest technology to put more officers on the streets and put rapists and murderers behind bars.”
The government is also increasing the number of live facial recognition tools to be used by forces across the country to help catch criminals wanted by fivefold, from 10 to 50.
The measures announced on Monday are part of the biggest overhaul of policing in England and Wales in 200 years. Other changes include:
- Establishment of an FBI-style National Police Service (NPS) to combat terrorism, fraud and serious organized crime
- There will be a “significant reduction” in the number of police forces in England and Wales, resulting in 43 officers becoming a mega force of up to 12.
- Neighborhood police teams in every municipal neighborhood to combat the “epidemic” of everyday crime
- Officers must hold and renew a mandatory “license to practice” in order to provide service.
- Interior minister given power to dismiss police chiefs and raise standards of fighting forces
The government’s Police Reform White Paper also announced plans to review whether police response to non-criminal hate incidents is “proportionate”.
Designed to tackle serious crime, the new NPS has been described as “Britain’s FBI” and will combine the existing National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, National Police Air Service and National Highways Policing into one organisation.
The committee will be chaired by a new National Police Commissioner who will serve as the country’s most senior police chief.
Although the exact number of regional forces under the new model has not been announced, the first mergers are expected to take place before the next election, following a review that will be reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs this summer.
Announcing her plans in the House of Commons, Ms Mahmood said: “Taken together, there is no doubt that these are major reforms.
“The transformation in the structures of our forces, the standards within them and the means of public accountability these are the most significant changes to the functioning of policing in this country in nearly 200 years.
“The world has changed immeasurably since then, but policing has not.
“We have excellent and brave police officers across the country, we have effective and inspiring leaders in many of our forces, but they operate within an outdated structure, making the job of policing our streets and protecting our country harder than it needs to be.”
Police chiefs welcomed the overhaul as “long overdue” on Monday, with National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) chairman Gavin Stephens telling reporters there were “too many chiefs” at the moment.
“There are rapidly changing new technologies that show great promise, then you can’t implement them because there are too many decision makers in the system,” he said.
“If we want to put the best technology available in the hands of every neighborhood cop, every local team, we have to do it once for everyone and then implement it.”
Major changes are expected to be phased in by 2034. Asked if it was too late, Stephens added: “Twenty years ago it would have been fine. It’s fine today too. So we shouldn’t waste any time.”
“It’s really important for us to keep the momentum going through these changes and get through them.”
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