Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence technology in assisting the police, particularly regarding knife crime.

AI, and other technologies, can provide a wide range of benefits such as efficiency and increased productivity as well as improving public confidence in policing through improving the prevention, detection and investigation of crime.

The Home Office is investing in AI across a number of areas which will benefit the response to all crime types, including automating back-office tasks like redaction to free officers up to be on the frontline.

We have also supported a number of bespoke investments in AI to help fight knife crime including knife recognition AI tools, and tools which facilitate mark retrieval from knives creating a semi-automated method for examining a knife’s surface that can be operated by non-specialists. This is being done, in part, alongside the Office of Police Chief Scientific Advisor, and will speed up investigations.

It is also important that any adoption of AI is done so responsibly, and the Home Office has provided funding to support the National Police Chiefs Council AI Portfolio to drive consistency and create guidance for forces to develop and deploy AI tools.

The Home Office has commissioned research into public attitudes towards police use of AI which is underway. The results will contribute to policy development considerations for police use of AI.