Artificial Intelligence

ANALYSIS: The latest annual reports on global and European cybercrime discuss both increasingly complex as well as opportunist attacks, and highlight the performance of individual countries in safeguarding against threats; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at who is doing well, who needs to do better, and what more they could be doing.

OPINION: The Internet of Things, that network of products and objects using digital communications to connect and exchange data with other devices and systems, is becoming increasingly common in our everyday world; but Dr Lennon Chang of Monash University believes it also represents a significant opportunity for cyber criminals to carry out a much wider range of both cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crimes.

INNOVATION: Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to revolutionise identification processes for law enforcement; but if they are to be reliable and trusted, those commissioning their use must ensure concerns around gender dimension bias have been addressed from the outset, says Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth.

ANALYSIS: The Biden administration’s recent ban on the use of Pegasus spyware in the US represents a strong international statement on human rights and democratic freedoms; but analyst Dr Teagan Westendorf of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes it raises serious questions for Australian policing, and the swathe of legislation giving law enforcement new powers to access individuals’ data in the name of tackling ‘exceptional’ or ‘unprecedented’ threats.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Policing could already benefit from the significant advances available in modern technology, according to Allan Fairley of Accenture UK – but he believes the real barriers to progress are politics and personal agendas, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

OPINION: While there was a familiar ring to much of the UK Government’s recently unveiled ‘Beating Crime Plan’, continuing pressure on resources (both human financial) means delivering a new-look local policing approach is still a major challenge; Steve Ainsworth, Executive Director of NEC Software Solutions UK, believes technology can lead to more effective targeting of offences and offenders, and give young-in-service officers the vital knowledge they need to succeed.

FEATURE: With the site of a new National Cyber Force now confirmed – along with the centre’s role in “offensive cyber operations” – the UK has reinforced its position as a leading player in global cyber security; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at plans for the NCF, the country’s continuing efforts to build cyber capacity, and the opportunities for developing new uses of artificial intelligence within those disruptive technologies.

ANALYSIS: High-harm domestic abuse offenders are likely to have a criminal record and several police interactions before they are first reported for partner violence – and a small number go on to cause disproportionate harm – so could algorithms and machine learning help to target them early? This was one of the key questions considered by New South Wales Police Superintendent Andrew Hurst at last week’s rescheduled Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing conference.

INNOVATION: With pressure on police call handlers back up to levels not seen for many years, Steve Little from Frazer-Nash Consultancy assesses the options facing police leaders: either keep recruiting more staff in an ‘arms race’ that they can never win, or follow other sectors and turn to AI solutions that will deliver an automated experience for the citizen.

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: Sopra Steria’s Public Safety MD Paul Bergin believes policing already has the technology to predict future crimes and identify future criminals; the bigger question is how that tech and data is used ethically, as he explained to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Walking Tour.

INNOVATION: The recent European Police Chiefs Convention was the setting for the first Europol Excellence Awards in Innovation, with a project creating a new tool to target online child sex abuse and a multinational collaboration tackling global malware scooping the prizes; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the two award winners, as well as the wider issue of the importance of innovation in policing.

INNOVATION: As delegates gather in Coventry for this week’s BAPCO public safety technology event, Simon Hall, CEO of police digital mobility platform PoliceBox, looks back at the predictions he was invited to make regarding police IT in 2006 – and the success stories, disappearing initiatives and surprise arrivals on the policing technology scene over the intervening 15 years.

INNOVATION: With global digitalisation, an increasingly complex international security landscape and the rapid advances in technology, new intelligence gathering tools and techniques are developing at pace; now a new European collaboration of 15 intelligence and security agencies has been established to focus and share research and development, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

INNOVATION: Advances in technology, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), could deliver real benefits for policing – but get it wrong and the impact can be hugely damaging; ahead of next week’s NPCC Conference on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, Sharon Moore, Public Sector Chief Technical Officer at IBM, looks at some of the initiatives already underway to ensure issues such as racial or gender bias in AI don’t become barriers to public trust and accountability.

FEATURE: With police legitimacy being challenged and examined more than ever, the law enforcement use of technology and data is also coming under close scrutiny; information and intelligence management expert Giles Herdale, and former NPCC ethics lead Dave Lewis, look at some of the key debates around these issues, which were up for discussion at the recent Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) live event.

FEATURE: There is widespread discussion about the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) across society and its relevance to policing, but for many it’s still a baffling subject; Andy Wilkins, CEO and Co-Founder of Futr – which has developed AI services for the police, local government, and the corporate and charitable sectors – explains what AI can do for critical services, why it’s important, and the difference it can make.

OPINION: The Home Office recently put out a revised draft of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice for public consultation in the UK; Tony Porter, the former Surveillance Camera Commissioner and now Chief Privacy Officer at Corsight AI, believes there is a need for more guidance and clearer governance of surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology, and that regulation of their use and deployment should be a role for the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office.

ANALYSIS: COVID-19 has seen fraudsters taking advantage of the pandemic economy, and Africa has not escaped the attentions of those intent on fraud; Research Associate Nataliya Mykhalchenko and Lecturer Jörg Wiegratz, both of the University of Leeds, set out some of the key findings from their latest research into the responses to fraud, and the major characteristics of anti-fraud measures, across 11 African countries.

INTERVIEW: Professor Paul Taylor, who became the UK’s first Police Chief Scientific Adviser in May, believes policing leaders recognise that science and technology will be crucial to the service going forwards; he spoke to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons about what his role will be, the importance of partnerships with education and industry, and how the National Crime Laboratory will drive evidence-based good practice in communities across the country.

ANALYSIS: As technology evolves, policing faces new challenges protecting the rule of law and victims online, while serving the online community; in Europol’s latest Spotlight position paper, Dr Mary Aiken, Professor of Forensic Cyberpsychology at the University of East London, and Dr Philipp Amann, Head of Expertise & Stakeholder Management at Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, explore these key challenges, and consider the question of where to draw the cyber blue line.

FEATURE: As recent experiences in the US have highlighted, public infrastructure and supply chains are increasingly a target for hackers with a wide range of motives, and the growing dependence on digital technology increases the risk of cyber attack for public sector bodies; but as Policing Insight’s Andy Staniforth reports, new European Commission Horizon funding is available for forces in the UK and Europe to strengthen their digital defences.

OPINION: Already referred to as ‘the most surveilled nation on Earth’, the UK looks set to invest in more CCTV through a funding boost to the Safer Streets initiative; but Professor William Webster of Stirling University believes that expanding the existing disparate and fragmented CCTV ecosystem neglects the wider societal change required for women to feel safer in public places.

New report: With growing volumes of increasingly complex demand, police contact management was already facing significant challenges before the arrival of COVID-19; but a new report by CoPaCC highlights how forces have responded to more varied public channel choice, adopted and developed new technology, and adapted working practices and reporting structures to meet the challenges of both the increasing demand and the pandemic.

INNOVATION: With increasing pressure on policing restricting opportunities for research and innovation, a new EU funding programme – to which UK forces still have access – could offer fresh avenues for transformation and change that will enable law enforcement to tackle existing and emerging threats, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.