Met to announce ambitious plans to scale drones, LFR and AI in fight against criminals
Sir Mark Rowley is making a speech in London.
Last updated 1 hour ago
Police budgets for technology have fallen to half the level of other public bodies amid too much political focus on officer numbers, the head of Britain’s biggest force will say.
Sir Mark Rowley will use a speech in London on Wednesday to call for police chiefs to be given more freedom to use new technology and not have to wait for legislation to keep up.
The Metropolitan Police chief will highlight plans including the expansion of live facial recognition and drone coverage for every London borough, as well as increasing use of AI.
Need to act fast
On Tuesday, human rights campaign group Liberty said there should be a legal framework in place before the force increases its use of static live facial recognition cameras.
But Sir Mark is set to argue that it is not viable for forces to wait for a separate legal framework for each new development in technology.
He is expected to say: “Policing by consent is key to the British policing model and is something we must treasure.
“However, when it comes to new technologies, as we saw with Live Facial Recognition, some campaign groups call for new legislation and restrictions every time a new capability emerges.
“While that comes from a legitimate place, it risks slowing progress to the point where policing cannot keep pace with the threats we face.
“We already operate within a complex legislative framework including the Human Rights Act, the Investigatory Powers Act, the Data Protection Act and GDPR, and are overseen by multiple regulators and commissioners.
“If every time a new capability emerges, or we find a new use case for data exploitation, we have to wait for new legislation before we use it, we will fail.
“We cannot legislate for every incremental development in technology. The pace is simply too fast, and the legislative process is too slow.”
He will argue that the Met is able to spend around £6,000 per person on data and technology, while other public bodies can spend around £13,000.
Sir Mark will say: “For decades, political debate has focused heavily on police officer numbers, with far less attention given to whether policing has the tools it needs to do the job effectively.”
Drone coverage in every London Borough
The force is planning to have drone coverage in every London borough by this time next year, and to establish a network with the other emergency services.
The Met currently has three drone sites, with a total of nine devices deploying to around 200 incidents per week.
A national scheme to use drones as first responders has seen pilot schemes take place over the past two years, including in Norfolk, which has limited access to the helicopters flown by the National Police Air Service because they are stationed so far away.
The idea is that forces can send remotely operated drones to the scene of incidents to gather information more quickly about what has happened and what resources they need to send, as well as for things like tracking suspects.
'Turning point' for London policing
The Met’s trial began in October last year, with drones placed in Islington, the West End and Hyde Park.
Sir Mark will say: “This is a turning point for policing in London. Today we are setting out how we will significantly step up our use of technology to fundamentally change how we protect the public.
“Drones are already transforming how we respond to incidents – getting visuals from the scene in minutes, giving officers critical intelligence and helping us act faster and more safely.
“Now we are scaling that capability across London and working with partners to create a truly integrated, city-wide drone network.
“But this is about more than individual tools. Criminals are already using technology to become more organised, more connected and harder to catch.
“Right now, policing is trying to keep up using systems that are too slow and too restrictive. If that does not change, we won’t succeed.”
Officers have also used AI to trawl through CCTV footage, which the Met claims has saved hundreds of hours of investigators’ time.