To honour its commitment to restoring effective neighbourhood policing, Labour PPC Jake Richards is calling on his party to create an agenda for law enforcement’s use of emerging tech and access to data.
In an essay for the Social Market Foundation – a cross-party think tank – Labour parliamentary candidate for Rother Valley Jake Richards sets out his ideas for how his party could improve crime prevention should it reach government. His proposals involve better use of artificial intelligence, facial recognition, social media data and other emerging technology.
Richards argues that Labour’s commitment to restoring neighbourhood policing with “local officers who understand their community and its needs” must include fundamental reforms that enable police forces to make more efficient use of new technologies. The need for reform is pressing, as the evolving nature and fast-growing of crime these days – like cybercrime and fraud – is coinciding with a fall in public trust and faith in policing. More than 40% of people who experienced or witnessed a crime choose not to report it, mainly because they thought the police would take them seriously, Richards highlights.
Despite piecemeal reforms over the years, the police lacks “a coherent and national approach to the use of data, social media, artificial intelligence and bio-metric recognition”, Richards says. He notes that while the private sector is increasingly using big data analysis to predict behaviour to their advantage, the police makes little use of such technology and data for crime prevention. “The state should not fall behind large corporations in its use of potentially transformative technology in fighting criminality”, said Richards.
This essay is the fourth in a new collection from the Social Market Foundation, ‘Class of 2024: future MPs on the social market’. Over the coming weeks, the SMF will publish pieces on a range of policy issues, showcasing the ideas of some of the most interesting thinkers across the major parties, hoping to be elected to parliament following the next election. The SMF has already published essays from PPCs Andrew Pakes, Chris Curtis and Kirsty McNeill on food security, New Towns and social clubs (respectively), as part of the collection.
The essay is published by the Social Market Foundation. The author retains full editorial independence.
The police can be using data collected by security camera footage, social media posts about antisocial behaviour, and AI-enabled facial recognition to improve resource allocation, proactively address emerging threats, and rebuild public trust through community engagement and responsiveness, Richards notes. He admits that such reforms must be accompanied by adequate levels of protections and safeguarding, due to the unprecedented level of data that can be of use to law enforcement – but ultimately, “state should not cower away [from controversy] – and instead attempt to navigate the inevitable ethical quandaries”.
Notes
- Jake Richards’ blog will be published at https://www.smf.co.uk/commentary_podcasts/technology-and-policing/ on 8th May, 2024, at 5 AM.
- The essay is published by the Social Market Foundation. The author retains full editorial independence. Note: The Social Market Foundation has invited parliamentary candidates from across the major parties to contribute an essay on a policy topic of their choice. To be clear, this does not represent an endorsement of any candidate in the election. The SMF remains strictly non-partisan.
Contact
- For media enquiries, please contact Impact Officer Richa Kapoor, at richa@smf.co.uk
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