New AI tool could help free up police time in Cambridgeshire, commissioner says
Darryl Preston says the technology could improve how crimes are reported and investigated
A new AI-powered tool being trialled by Cambridgeshire Constabulary could help free up police time, according to the county's police and crime commissioner.
The force is taking part in a pilot of Citizen Assist, a tool built into its website which guides people through a text conversation to collect the key details needed for a crime report.
It comes ahead of a national launch planned for later this year, with Cambridgeshire involved after Chief Constable Simon Megicks' work on the Digital Public Contact programme, a national initiative led by the National Police Chiefs' Council.
Citizen Assist has been designed specifically for policing and can support the whole reporting process, gathering information and building a structured crime report before submitting it directly into existing police systems.
Darryl Preston, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said the tool could improve both the experience for the public and the resources available to the force.
"Often it provides a better outcome, i.e. a better experience, but it also frees up additional resource," he said.
"I mean, people often say, 'We want to see the police. We want more visible policing.' Well, technology and AI can make that happen. If that doesn't replace people, AI doesn't make the decisions on how police respond."
Mr Preston said he hoped people using the tool would notice real benefits in how their report was handled.
"It makes sure that it's done properly so that we are not having to go back to victims of crime and ask them more questions," he said.
"So we're trying to make it as straightforward, but as accurate. We want good information, good data, so good decisions could be made and good investigations, and this tool supports that."
Chief Constable Simon Megicks has said the technology will not replace other ways of reporting crime, but will offer the public another option, should they choose to use it.
He said all decisions about a crime report would remain with police staff and officers, in the same way they do with existing online reports.
The public can use Citizen Assist to report non-urgent crime through the "report a crime" page of the force's website.