Artificial Intelligence

Analysis: The grooming of children is on the rise across England and Wales. Policing Insight Contributor Andrew Staniforth discusses this disturbing trend and considers how artificial intelligence is leading the fight against online grooming.

Interview: As cybercrime continues to rise, patterns of repeat victimisation are being investigated by new collaborative research between Southern Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit and the Cyber Threats Research Centre at Swansea University. Ph.D. Researcher Sara Correia shares with Policing Insight the preliminary findings of this ground-breaking research.

Opinion: Former Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire and now a strategic adviser on police and technology Paul Kennedy explores the potential of AI and automation for policing and whether the service is positioned to embrace new technologies.

OPINION: Machine learning has tremendous possibilities for the police. However, badly used, it could be as controversial as Stop and Search. Paul McFarlane, Senior Teaching Fellow in Security and Crime Science at UCL, argues that the police must avoid 'black box' systems to be accountable for the decisions that algorithms suggest.

analysis: Policing Insight contributor Andrew Staniforth lays out the opportunities that the Horizon 2020 European research fund presents for policing and urges Chief Officers and PCCs to seize their chance to apply for millions of euros of funding before the Brexit deadline of the 31 October.

INTERVIEW: Police trials of Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) may be controversial, but they have recently received support from the Home Secretary. Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter explains to Policing Insight the challenge of understanding AFR accuracy and the dangers of ‘surveillance creep’ impacting upon civil liberties.

interview: This month, the Home Office launched new software to speed up online child abuse investigations and limit the number of indecent images police officers have to view. Benjamin Gancz, former Metropolitan Police detective and CEO of Qumodo, which was involved in developing the software, talks to Policing Insight about the potential impact of this new tool.

INSIGHT: Det Ch Supt Chris Todd is the West Midlands Police Head of Professional Standards and the NPCC Lead for Data Analytics. In this exclusive article for Policing Insight, he responds to recent press coverage suggesting that the West Midlands Police Ethics Committee had "raised the alarm" over the force's potential use of a 'predictive policing' tool.

Opinion: There has been a 40 per cent decline in intelligence analysts since 2010. Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable and now CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett attended the National Intelligence Conference in Cardiff where he found local intelligence provision is coming under increasing pressure.

Interview: On the eve of this year's Police ICT Summit Policing Insight talks to one of this year's exhibitors, Simon Hall who is the co-founder and CEO of Coeus Software, about the barriers to police ICT and how their technology reflects the Policing Vision 2025. 

OPINION: The issue of disclosure has made its way into the public domain, thanks to the collapse of high-profile trials. Mark Bedding, a former police officer now with Chorus Intelligence, argues that many police officers already have access to the technology they need to make disclosure simpler.

ANALYSIS: Policing is undergoing a profound transformation, but are forces ready for the changes they still have to make? Accenture recently surveyed over 300 policing professionals in six countries; Rachel Phillips and James Slessor of Accenture Public Safety explain their findings.

OPINION: Allan Fairley, UK Police & Justice Managing Director for Accenture, works with a range of public sector, police and justice clients. In his latest article, Allan provides his thoughts on how robotics and automation can help officers and staff have more time for engaging with their communities.

INSIGHT: Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used by investigators but its role in policing is poorly understood, both inside the community and in society at large. Clare Elford Managing Director of Clue, sheds some light on this increasingly important tool

ANALYSIS: The scale of the challenge involved in protecting the UK's borders is unprecedented. Professor Babak Akhgar of Sheffield Hallam University explains how the work of Project ROBORDER - testing innovative surveillance technologies - could help border security address emerging threats.

ANALYSIS: Accenture’s 2018 Technology Vision research has identified five key technology trends that have the potential to transform policing and public safety. James Slessor, Managing Director of Accenture Public Safety, explains the findings.

Opinion: Giles Herdale, co-chair of the Independent Digital Ethics Panel for Policing (IDEPP), explains the importance of ethics in digital policing and the role of the panel in ensuring forces factor ethics into their digital policing programmes from the outset.

OPINION: The Metropolitan Police's use of a 'gang matrix' has sparked concern from Amnesty International, which has warned that it could be discriminatory. Daragh Murray and Professor Pete Fussey of the University of Essex explore the issue, and the wider human rights risks of using big data in policing.

ANALYSIS: Report Watch summarises the main findings of reports that impact on policing and includes responses from the main stakeholders as well as media reaction. Here we take a look at Big Brother Watch's report on facial recognition technology which it warns is being used indiscriminately and without proper oversight and regulation by some police forces.

OPINION: Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in policing to predict crime and direct scarce police resources. However, Professor Michael Rowe of Northumbria University warns that the moral and ethical ramifications of using such technology are potentially serious, and need to be kept in view.

INSIGHT: CCTV plays a vital role in police investigations reducing costs, time and effort as well as improving prosecution outcomes. Richard Perkins explains the challenges of optimising the future use of CCTV, exploiting opportunities in interoperability, biometrics and artificial intelligence.

OPINION: Artificial intelligence could be a huge boon to policing and public safety - but it must be used responsibly and win public trust. James Slessor, Managing Director of Accenture Public Safety, reflects on the possibilities.

ANALYSIS: The latest of a monthly series in which CoPaCC's Sandra Andrews takes a look at some of the most interesting and topical issues that Police and Crime Panels across England and Wales are dealing with. This month, Sandra looks at the use of artificial intelligence, and Durham Constabulary's development of the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART).