New national AI centre ‘will drive innovation’ across forces

Police.AI aims to take policing’s adoption of AI “further and faster in the fight against crime”, centralising innovation, ensuring robust testing, and making approved AI tools available to all forces.

The Home Office says these tools will help free-up officers from desk duties back to the front line, speed up investigations and reduce bureaucracy, so communities everywhere benefit.

Individual forces are already innovating and trialling successful AI and technology to deliver better results for the public, including catching wanted sex offenders with technology such as facial recognition, and using call transcription to improve non-emergency 101 reporting, but projects often remain localised.

Police.AI will centralise and streamline the development, evaluation and rollout of AI tools, working with forces, other public bodies, academia and AI firms to identify, develop and robustly test AI products that will have the most benefit for policing.

The AI solutions which meet the centre’s strict standards will then be made available to all forces with tailored support and training, driving significant savings and ensuring consistent, responsible and transparent AI adoption to best serve the public.

This will be supported by a public-facing registry giving people information about how their local force is using AI.

Set to launch in April, Police.AI will also act as centre of expertise on criminal misuse of AI.

National Crime Agency Director Alex Murray OBE, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for AI, said: “Policing faces growing demand, complex digital crime, and sustained financial pressure – all of which feed into our push for policing reform. The launch of Police.AI marks a decisive step in meeting those challenges.

“The world is changing fast and the police must change fast too. Police.AI will lead the way in responsible AI development to tackle threat, prevent harm and deliver a policing service fit for now and the future, benefitting communities by freeing officers up to the front line and supporting them to deliver quality investigations that ensure offenders are held to account.

“The public have told us they would expect the police to use AI, businesses use AI and we know criminals are adopting it as we speak, making the launch of Police.AI both timely and necessary.

“This exciting initiative positions UK policing as a global leader in responsible, digitally enabled law enforcement — delivering better outcomes for victims, communities, and the public.”

Working with partners including the College of Policing and the national network of Police Academic Centres of Excellence (P-ACE), Police.AI will also upskill officers and staff, providing technical advice and training to build a workforce ready for the future.

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan, NPCC lead for science and innovation, said: “Policing is on the brink of a once-in-a-generation reform. AI has an important part to play in that change – supporting our people to do what they do best: help others.

“Police.AI will drive innovation at a national scale while delivering real, practical benefits at local force level. It strengthens transparency, safeguards public confidence and ensures the tools we build are lawful, ethical and trustworthy.

“For the communities we serve, the work of Police.AI will translate into improved public safety, better outcomes for victims and vulnerable people, and more officers on the frontline instead of behind desks.”

The NPCC has already set out clear principles and tools to support responsible and transparent AI use, including the AI Covenant, the Responsible AI Checklist, and the Police Problem Book, which defines the policing problems and use cases where AI can most safely and effectively add value.

It says “good quality, accessible data” will be key to the successful adoption of AI.

The National Data and Analytics Office is working to improve the quality of policing data to identify gaps, inconsistencies and potential bias that could be amplified by AI, and, in collaboration with the Home Office, build a service that enables forces to access national datasets (when necessary to keep the public safe), and better support forces to drive local innovation.