38 million hours of police time could be saved under a plan
supported by the government, as the drive continues to free up
officers' time so they can focus on keeping our streets safe.
In its response to the Policing Productivity Review, commissioned
by the Home Office and published last Autumn, the government has
set out how £230 million will be spent over the next four years
on new technology, such as live facial recognition and drones
that will be used as first responders to meet the recommendations
made by the independent Policing Productivity Team.
Previously announced in the Spring Budget, this investment will
go towards innovation such as knife detection and artificial
intelligence, including automatic redaction and translation, and
will enable police to spend less time in the office, and more
time in our communities.
The government will also be creating a new Centre for Police
Productivity to provide the foundation for future improvements
across policing. The Centre will be integral to devising and
implementing the further work raised in the Review that could
save the equivalent of an additional 20,000 police officers worth
of time.
The Productivity Review also recommended many initiatives that
the government has already started implementing, including the
expansion of facial recognition, with £55.5 million committed to
its rollout across the country over the next four years. This
will include at least £4 million for bespoke mobile units that
can be deployed in crowded areas to identify people wanted by the
police.
The expansion of Right Care, Right Person, which sees those
experiencing a mental health crisis receiving the most
appropriate treatment in the right environment by health and
social care professionals, could save up to a million police
hours a year.
If just 500,000 officer hours were saved, the Review estimates
that officers in England could attend an additional 250,000
incidents of domestic abuse or over 300,000 burglaries.
Policing Minister Chris Philp said:
“It is critical that our police officers are out on our streets,
stopping criminals and supporting the public, and we will
continue in our plan to remove any barriers that keep them from
this.
“I want to see cutting edge innovation ingrained in our policing,
and the new Centre for Police Productivity and our reforms to cut
red tape will remove the bureaucracy that holds officers back.
“By investing millions in facial recognition, AI, and new knife
detection technology, we will continue to give police the tools
they need to rise to the challenge of modern policing.”
The Productivity Review highlighted a range of work that can save
police time, and the government has already started on much of
this in the past few years.
Last year, the government also signed the National Partnership
Agreement with health authorities and the police that will see
Right Care, Right Person implemented in all police forces in
England. The approach will free up considerable amounts of police
time to focus on keeping ourcommunities safe.
Created by Humberside Police and the NHS in 2019, it is now much
easier for staff in police control rooms to identify the right
agency to respond at the outset when dealing with calls about
individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
Changes have also been made to the Home Office Counting Rules, so
all reported crimes for a single incident will now consistently
be recorded under the ‘principal offence', rather than as
multiple entries on a database that effectively duplicates
information. A core recommendation in the Review, the National
Police Chiefs' Council report estimated that 443,000 officer
hours can be saved by simplifying crime recording – freeing up
time that could be better spent cutting crime and keeping our
streets safe.
The government is also going beyond the Productivity Review's
recommendations with technologies, including investing in the
piloting of drones as first responders. This will look at
stationing ‘drones in a box' in strategic locations for
deployment to incidents prior to the arrival of emergency
services, to provide support to front line policing and police
operations by enabling enhanced response times, informed
decisions prior to arriving on scene, and increased safety of the
public and officers.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
