Government announces plans to improve police productivity with technology

The government has revealed how £230 million will be spent over the next four years on new technology in a bid to improve police productivity.

The money will be spent on things like facial recognition and drones that will be used as first responders. There will also be spending on innovation such as knife detection and artificial intelligence, including automatic redaction and translation.

It is hoped the changes will free up officers' time.

There will also be a new Centre for Police Productivity which is intended to provide the foundation for future improvements across policing.

The announcement follows the Policing Productivity Review, which was commissioned by the Home Office and published last autumn.

Policing Minister Chris Philp said: "It is critical that our police officers are out on our streets, stopping criminals and supporting the public, and we will continue in our plan to remove any barriers that keep them from this.

"I want to see cutting edge innovation ingrained in our policing, and the new Centre for Police Productivity and our reforms to cut red tape will remove the bureaucracy that holds officers back.

"By investing millions in facial recognition, AI, and new knife detection technology, we will continue to give police the tools they need to rise to the challenge of modern policing."