The PSNI has said it is using artificial intelligence (AI) in “non-contentious areas” after it was revealed recently that officers are using the technology to scan CCTV footage in relation to the death of teenager Noah Donohoe.
Last month, it was announced artificial intelligence is to be used as part of the inquest process into the death of the Belfast schoolboy in the north of the city in June 2022.
A preliminary hearing was told in January that the PSNI has proposed using an AI package to examine CCTV footage recovered from an area beside the 14-year-old’s home.
This was said to be in order to pick out people and vehicles and could therefore speed up the process of reviewing days of footage manually.
Speaking at today’s Policing Board meeting, Assistant Chief Officer Mark McNaughten revealed the PSNI is now using AI as part of their firearms licensing role, in order to “perform background and suitability checks” in addition to the use in CCTV.
“It’s in the background, and operating 24/7, to speed up the whole process which reduces the demand on staff and provides a better offering to citizens,” he said.
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Mr McNaughten also said AI is being used to create staff update emails and is incorporated into the PSNI’s ‘voice to text technology’ which takes digital recordings and transcribes it into text for officers to use, a new mechanism which was launched before Christmas.
“The possibilities are endless – such as mobile phone analysis, and in ‘simple’ areas, like developing teaching plans in college,” he explained.
“What we are doing with the resources we have is focusing on non-contentious areas. As we look to the future, we’re already in the foothills of looking how we can utilise the technology in mobile phone analysis which is swamping all areas.”
The PSNI is also looking at how the technology could be used to create teaching plans at the policing college in Garnerville.
“As this technology develops, we are trying to ensure we get the best use of the resources that we have – but we could do more, and we would like to recruit specialists in this area,” Mr McNaughten added.
The PSNI is just one of several policing organisations to incorporate AI into their work.
According to the National Po-lice Chief’s Council, trials of AI have been ongoing to help ease call demand, tackle child exploitation and to identify domestic abuse across the UK, although it warned forces to ensure they use the technology responsibly.
Elsewhere in the meeting, the newly launched student recruitment campaign was also praised with Mr Boutcher revealing the organisation has received over 3,000 applicants so far.
“I want to encourage people from all of our fabulous communities to look at our PSNI website for more information, come and join us and be part of the best public service,” he said.
“This campaign is a hugely positive development and the recruitment cannot come quick enough.
“If someone from a particular background thought it wasn’t possible for them to join the PSNI, put those thoughts behind. Come and talk to us.”