AI, facial recognition and digital evidence sharing: Why police must embrace new tech

As Scotland’s Chief Constable approaches the
third year of her tenure, she and her top team
don’t have their sorrows to seek. The fact that
few if any are of Jo Farrell’s own making will be
cold comfort as Police Scotland faces another
tough year, despite a small uplift in funds in the
recent Budget.
On a positive note, operational policing has had
a good year. The performance of the serious
and organised crime team has never been
better. With the exception of one or two sticky
historical cases, all homicides have been quickly
solved, and a number of high-tariff organised
crime groups have been dismantled in brilliant
intelligence-led operations in partnership with
the National Crime Agency and others.

On the public order front, all large-scale events
have been well policed and, apart from repeated
glitches around fireworks night, the year has
gone fairly smoothly. All good you may say, but
beneath the surface, there are structural
problems which pose ongoing threats and a
long list of woes.

Hundreds of officers in court
Repeated budget cuts have reduced funding to
pre-2013 levels and police numbers have fallen
to the lowest headcount since before the
national force was formed.
Increased demand for new specialist
investigations, cyber crime, historical sexual
crime, and the increased terrorist threat have all
taken cops off the street, seriously affecting
core community policing. In addition, £500,000
is needed just to prevent our police stations
falling down; the police federation, which
represents street officers, is organising a work
to rule in pursuit of an overdue pay deal; and so
on.
As well as its own problems, the police are
being affected by knock-on problems
elsewhere in the justice system. Our courts,
also systematically underfunded, are now
hopelessly jammed, with upwards of 500 police
officers attending court daily, the vast majority
of whom are not called to give evidence.

Embracing artificial intelligence
But here at least there’s a glimmer of hope, for
Chief Farrell has a plan. At a recent Digital
Justice and Policing Conference, she
announced a bold initiative which, if successful,
could make a real difference and usher in a
broader role for technology to tackle the delays
and bureaucracy so deeply ingrained in many of
our systems.
A government-funded, digital evidence-sharing
system is to be rolled out after trials showed it
capable of saving considerable police time at
court. In the great scheme of things, it’s a small
step forward and we should not forget the risks
that new IT systems bring, but if this idea
proves successful, it will make a real difference.
No IT systems will ever replace the need for
boots on the ground but it will help bridge the
growing gap between increasing demand and
reduced supply. Developments in artificial
intelligence like facial recognition must also be
embraced, with appropriate safeguards.
For there is a reality that our police and civic
leaders are well aware. The old funding levels
are gone for good. Public services will be lucky
to maintain present budgets, let alone hope to
see a reversal of funding fortunes. It’s time to
innovate, to think and act anew, it’s the only way
to keep up.
In embracing new technology, Chief Farrell is
doing just that – we should all hope her plan
succeeds.