It was recently announced new algorithmic technologies will be introduced for the police forces in England and Wales although they don’t have the resources to properly scrutinize their deployments or receive proper training on how to operate the systems.
Indeed, there are heavy tensions between police forces and technology suppliers as it was reported that testing was vital to use the technology safely. Besides, one of the challenges faced is that police often take mature technology and try to implement it in a policing context that it was not designed for. There needs to be more work upstream with providers so that the tech developed fits police work.
Moreover, it was found out that many of the 43 forces in England and Wales have established ethics committees that will be dealing with the introduction and operation of new technologies, in order to scrutinize more the products. Additional scrutiny will be offered by the police and crime commissioners (PCCs).
However, although there is more training implemented at a national level for systems such as the Police National Computer (PNC) and Police National Database (PNC), there is no training available for emerging technologies like facial recognition. There is very little mandatory training in policing for this kind of technology.
