The United Kingdom will expand its live facial recognition fleet from 10 to 50 vans under sweeping policing reforms.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the move, overseen by a national AI centre, will help forces track suspects, find vulnerable individuals, and deter crime.
The new policy forms part of the largest overhaul of U.K.’s “outdated” policing model. Under the reforms, AI will be used to rapidly analyze CCTV, doorbell, and mobile footage, detect deepfakes, perform digital forensics, and automate administrative work such as form-filling, redaction, and transcription.
“Criminals are operating in increasingly sophisticated ways. However, some police forces are still fighting crime with analogue methods,” Mahmood said. “We will roll out state-of-the-art tech to get more officers on the streets and put rapists and murderers behind bars.”
Mahmood also said more tech experts, including digital forensic specialists, will join police forces to combat fraudsters, dismantle criminal networks on the dark web, and identify crime hotspots.
“Crime has evolved – but police forces haven’t,” she said. “Fraudsters and serious organized crime bosses are outsmarting them. Under my reforms, forces will now hire more digital, cyber and forensic officers to put vile criminals behind bars.”
Other proposed changes include the creation of an FBI-style National Police Service to combat terrorism, fraud, and serious organized crime, along with the establishment of neighbourhood policing teams in every council ward to address the “epidemic” of everyday crime.
