A new police artificial intelligence hub is set to revolutionise detective work by enabling suspects to be traced within minutes using advanced CCTV analysis. The head of the £115 million PoliceAI Centre, Alex Murray, has outlined plans for AI to transform the capture of dangerous criminals, reducing the process from days to potentially minutes.
AI to Transform Police Work
Alex Murray, who leads the new centre due to open shortly, believes AI bots could also handle 101 calls from the public, analyse criminal case files to suggest leads, and reduce bureaucracy, allowing officers to return to the streets. Currently, officers manually trawl through terabytes of CCTV footage after major incidents such as terrorist attacks or murders. However, AI programmes are being developed to analyse CCTV across large areas, focusing on distinctive characteristics like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or vehicle.
Retrospective Facial Recognition
In the future, if forces have a clear image of a suspect from a scene or a prior offence, they could deploy retrospective facial recognition to rapidly search through CCTV and track them down. Murray stated, 'We can offer the opportunity for UK police to ingest that CCTV and with a few prompts, search with a level of accuracy for example, for a black Golf or a man with a red hat. That will not only make policing more efficient, but it will also enable us to hopefully solve more crime and serve more victims.'
Human Oversight Remains Key
Murray emphasised that humans would still be central in sifting through data, identifying false positives and negatives, and directing manhunts, which could be reduced to a matter of minutes. He noted that the technology is suited for serious crimes where there is lots of CCTV and a need for quick resolution due to public danger. While acknowledging potential controversy, he stressed that the focus is on retrospective investigations following serious crimes.
Additional AI Applications
The new centre will spearhead AI development for UK forces. Murray believes AI chatbots and virtual assistants could handle 101 calls and assist 999 call-handlers by transcribing calls, identifying potential crimes, filling in forms, and assigning officers. AI programmes will also help identify and classify child sexual abuse imagery, sparing officers from viewing disturbing material. It is estimated that the technology could perform over 6 million hours of work annually, equivalent to freeing up 3,000 officers. Murray insisted AI would never replace police officers, only 'supplement decision making'.
