Cops need to be AI junkies to slash time spent on paperwork, head of cop training says
COPS need to become AI junkies in order to slash time spent on paperwork, the head of the police policy and training body said.
Andy Marsh, managing director of the College of Policing, said the technology “needs to be injected like heroin into the bloodstream of policing”.
He revealed forces are currently trialling an AI system that can write fully-automated statements and crime reports and save hours of valuable time.
Mr Marsh told the Police Superintendents’ Association’s annual conference he wants to see the system free-up officers in the space of two years.
He said: “Case files: possibly the most bureaucratic, complex and troublesome work that your teams are responsible for, riddled with error and disappointment.
“The technology currently exists, I’ve seen it, it’s under trial to effectively automate the whole thing.
“So through an interaction, AI could write a statement, do a risk assessment, do a crime report, do a handover network which then needs to be signed off by humans who check it’s correct.
“But it can absorb all the digital and written data and create a prosecution file. I would like to make prosecution files a problem of the past in two years.”
Mr Marsh called for forces to rapidly embrace the innovation to help ease pressures but said more resources will be needed to do away with paperwork for good.
He added: “But we won’t achieve this pace of change, we won’t exploit this sense of speed unless we’ve got a centre that is more capably resourced to get on with the job.
“These innovations are groundbreaking; they’re going to change the world, and they need to be injected like heroin into the bloodstream into policing much more quickly than we have done in the past.”
Cops also hope that AI will help in identifying potential criminals using facial recognition technology and clear even more time for officers.