The Home Office has announced that police officers will use AI to review and summarise evidence in a bid to free them up from paper work and allow them to spend more time on the streets.
Current guidance for managing evidence was written in 1996, before much of the technology we use today was invented. Some investigations now have over 500,000 e-books worth of data and an average fraud case contains over 4 million documents.
The Home Office has accepted key recommendations from Jonathan Fisher KC’s Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences, including legislating to allow the use of AI to turbocharge how evidence is reviewed.
Under the current system, officers manually process and provide a written summary for every file that could be relevant to an investigation. Under the new plans, officers will be able to use technology to identify, sort and compile millions of files.
Police AI will also pilot AI tools capable of automatically generating summaries of digital material, saving investigators countless hours spent carrying out administrative tasks.
Minister for Policing and Crime Prevention, Sarah Jones said: "Police officers are wasting thousands of hours trawling through phones, emails, messages, videos and cloud storage because of outdated regulations.
"That’s time that should be spent supporting victims, investigating crime and bringing offenders to justice.
"By embracing AI and new technology responsibly, we will boost productivity, bring policing into the 21st Century and free officers to focus on the frontline."
Al Murray, Interim Director, PoliceAI said: "The disclosure process is an essential safeguard in our justice system, but the scale of digital evidence involved in modern investigations means we need modern solutions.
"Used responsibly, AI can help officers and investigators manage vast amounts of material more efficiently, allowing them to spend more time supporting victims, pursuing offenders and exercising the professional judgement that technology can never replace.
"PoliceAI’s role is to help policing adopt these capabilities in a way that is evidence-based, ethical and trusted, ensuring forces have access to tools that have been rigorously tested and supported by robust national standards and oversight.
"This is not about replacing people with technology. It is about giving officers better tools to meet the demands of modern policing and deliver a more effective service to the public."
