
Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Eddie Bisknell
Derbyshire’s policing boss has warned of the “global threat” posed by artificial intelligence (AI) but said the county’s cash-strapped force had no choice but to use it to meet demands.
At an Amber Valley Borough Council meeting last night (September 9) Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts, Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), faced questions on AI.
The Labour PCC was asked about the risks posed by AI to the public and whether it was being used by the force, with councillors raising concerns of software going “rogue”.
Ms Ndiweni-Roberts told the meeting that education on AI formed a key part of online safety discussions that she had been having as a national lead.
She said: “It is a fast-moving issue and we are having to deal with things like AI-generated pornography and child pornography. It is very very challenging and dark times that we are dealing with, which is why education is key from a young age.
“That includes misinformation and disinformation. But AI affects more than just our young people, it affects all of us.
“I see the worst version of this and those are the conversations we are having nationally, recognising the global threat that AI and online safety presents.
“It needs a global response. You could be a victim in the UK and the perpetrator is in New Zealand, a victim in America and the perpetrator is in China.
“It is impacting our communities now. I have had a Derbyshire businessman who lost nearly all of his pension, who thought it would never happen to him.”
However, the Derbyshire police tsar told the meeting: “We are using AI in the Derbyshire police force. It is new to many forces but we are making sure we are having the training and safeguards in place. We have had challenges in that to make sure it works to the benefit of the force.
“We know it can allow for people to be more effective and more efficient.
“When resources are depleted and when you don’t have the same numbers of staff you are wanting to use technology to your benefit and to explore the safest ways to do that.
“It is just making sure it is used in a responsible way with checks and balances in place and that there are repercussions for the misuse of that.
“We are going to have to do things differently. We cannot continue to cut budgets and think that we are going to be able to do things the same way. It is not fair on the workforce and it would be near enough impossible.
“It is something I am not against, but people need the training with the right policies in place and when things go wrong we have the right support in place.”
Daniel Brooks, new Inspector for Amber Valley, said the borough had this week gained an AI team to trial AI software.
He said this trial, run by the College of Policing, was focussed on reviewing closed investigations that had “already been dealt with” to check how it was handled, with no impact on “active” cases.
Inspector Brooks said: “I am so impressed with what it can do. It can analyse data that would take me, as an experienced and efficient officer of 18 years, hours and hours to do, in seconds.
“It will give me reports, suggestions, it will find flaws in my evidence, it will give me investigation strategies.
“You still have to fact check that information but it tells you where it sourced it from. I know people have a lot of opinions about AI, some don’t like it, I like it.
“If this programme was introduced a long time in the future this would save officers significant amounts of time, improve investigations and ultimately help us bring offenders to justice and provide better care for victims and get more officers out on the beat and dealing with things more proactively.”
He said the AI software was secured in a closed environment without access to the internet and “cannot escape”.
