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this home secretary Announced plans to expand use AI As well as real-time facial recognition, she launched sweeping reforms to fix the problem Britain’s ‘broken’ policing system.
Shabana Mahmood £140 million is being invested Roll out technology She hopes it will free 6 million people police The equivalent of 3,000 police officers are working each year as part of the biggest overhaul of an “outdated” policing model designed for the next century.
AI Technology will be deployed to quickly analyze CCTV, doorbell and mobile phone footage to detect deep fakesconduct digital forensics and expedite management such as form filling, editing and transcription.
Ms Mahmoud said: “Criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way they commit crimes. However, some police forces still use simulation methods to fight crime.
“We will roll out state-of-the-art technology to put more police on the streets and put rapists and murderers behind bars.”
The government is also increasing the number Real-time facial recognition There are five trucks, ranging from 10 to 50, and will be used by forces across the country to help catch wanted criminals.
The measures announced on Monday are part of the biggest policing reform in England and Wales for 200 years. Other changes include:
- Create an FBI-style national team police Terrorism, Fraud and Serious Organized Crime Services (NPS)
- ‘Significant reduction’ in police force numbers in England and Wales, which could see 43 police forces merged into as few as 12 giant police forces
- Neighborhood policing teams in every parliamentary constituency tackle ‘epidemic’ of daily crime
- Officers must hold and renew a mandatory “license to practice” in order to hold office
- home secretary Power to sack police chief and raise standards on struggling force
The government’s white paper unveiled plans to embrace artificial intelligence, setting up a national center dedicated to using the new technology, called Police.AI, despite “illusions” about AI Controversial decisions affecting West Midlands Police Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending Birmingham games last year.
The AI Policing Center will also help roll out successful projects across the country, such as some forces trialling AI chatbots to triage non-urgent online inquiries.
The white paper also includes plans to review whether policing of non-criminal hate incidents (NCHI) is “proportionate”.
Designed to tackle serious crime, the new National Police Service has been dubbed “Britain’s FBI” and will combine the existing National Crime Agency (NCA), counter-terrorism policing, National Police Aviation Services and National Roads Policing under one organisation.
The agency will be led by a new national police chief, who will serve as the country’s most senior police chief.
While the exact number of regional troops under the new model has not yet been announced, the first merger of forces is expected to take place in parliament following a review reported to the Home Office this summer.
Setting out her plans in the House of Commons, Ms Mahmoud said: “There is no doubt that these are significant reforms.
“The transformation of our force structure, internal standards and the way we hold ourselves accountable to the public is the most significant change in the way policing has been done in this country for some 200 years.
“The world has changed immeasurably since then, but policing has not.
“We have excellent and brave police officers across the country and many of our forces have effective and inspiring leaders, but they operate within outdated structures that make the job of policing our streets and protecting our country more difficult than it should be.”
Police chiefs welcomed the reform on Monday, saying it was “long overdue”, with National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) chairman Gavin Stephens telling reporters there were currently “too many”.
“You have rapidly changing new technologies that show great promise, but you can’t push them out because there are too many decision-makers in the system,” he said.
“If we want to get the best available technology into the hands of every community police officer, every local team, we have to do it once for everyone and then roll it out.”
Major changes are expected to be rolled out in phases until 2034. Asked whether the changes came too late, Mr Stephens added: “It was good twenty years ago. It’s good today. So we shouldn’t waste any time.”
“Amid these changes, it’s important for us to stay motivated and stay the course.”
However, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) criticized the proposals, warning they would concentrate too much power in the hands of the Home Secretary and the new national police chief.
Emily Spurrell, chair of the APCC, said: “The concentration of policing powers in England and Wales is constitutionally inconsistent and poses significant risks. “The government has previously announced plans to abolish the Police and Crime Commissioner and replace it with mayors and local police councils.
However, Graeme Biggar, director-general of the NCA (which will form part of the new NPS), insisted that “operational independence is and I believe will remain a fundamental part of what we do”.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp attacked Ms Mahmoud for failing to mention the total number of police officers, claiming the number had “fell by more than 1,000” in the year to March 2025.
Mr Philp added: “The Government are running a scam – they are moving police from crime investigation, 999 response and other teams into neighborhood teams so they can say neighborhood numbers are increasing slightly but overall police numbers are falling.”
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“Such a massive force will be moved away from the communities they serve. Resources will flow from villages and towns to large cities.”