• New national centre will develop, test and roll out AI tools responsibly across all forces in England and Wales
  • This includes deepfake detection tools to fight new AI-enabled crimes, as well as expanded access to AI to help tackle shop and tool theft.
  • AI adoption expected to free up an estimated 6 million hours of police time per year by 2028 — equivalent to 3,000 extra officers and is part of the government's most ambitious programme of police reform in nearly 200 years

Officers across England and Wales will spend less time behind desks and more time protecting their communities, as the government today launches PoliceAI, a new national centre dedicated to the responsible development, piloting and scaling of artificial intelligence in policing.

The centre, backed by £75 million over three years, will work across all forces to identify, test and scale AI tools. Early trials show the scale of what is possible: 800 hours of footage in a kidnapping case reviewed in 3 hours, producing an early guilty plea; and half a million e-books of data translated instantly, leading to the arrest of a serious organised crime gang.

PoliceAI is part of a £140 million investment in AI technology over 3 years, including funding for 40 more live facial recognition units, tripling current capacity of a technology that is already proving its value in catching wanted rapists, domestic abusers and child sex offenders.  

The government is also investing a record £16.5 million to modernise how police and the public interact. This includes AI that transcribes 999 and 101 calls, links crime reports to identify patterns in demand, and triages non-emergency calls to the right responder.

PoliceAI will prioritise areas where AI can make the biggest immediate difference. 

PoliceAI interim director Alex Murray OBE said:

“Crime and technology are evolving rapidly. Policing must keep pace by adopting AI responsibly to catch criminals and keep people safe.

“We have created a national AI centre to help policing work smarter – our job is to get responsible AI into the hands of officers and staff so that they can spend less time on bureaucracy and more time fighting crime and helping the victims, witnesses and communities they work so hard to protect.”

Sir Andy Marsh, CEO of The College of Policing said:

“The College of Policing is proud to host PoliceAI, an emerging technology that we are committed to explaining clearly, how it works, how it is evaluated, and the safeguards in place to build public confidence in its use. While history shows that some of the greatest advances in policing have come through technology, from body worn video to modern forensics, technology alone is never enough; it must be guided by strong leadership and grounded in our Code of Ethics.

“By combining these innovations with the College’s commitment to high standards, evidence-based practice and continuous improvement, we are facing an historic shift for British policing that will help keep the public safe and strengthen trust in the service.”

The launch forms a central part of the Police Reform White Paper, published in January 2026, which set out the most ambitious redesign of policing in nearly 200 years. It supports the government's Plan for Change and its Safer Streets mission to put more visible, effective policing at the heart of every community. It has already put 3,000 more neighbourhood officers onto streets. 

Blair Gibbs, Director of the Police Foundation said:

“PoliceAI has the potential to transform policing.  By harnessing these innovative technologies and designing how to deploy them responsibly, the UK will be leading the world in how to leverage Artificial Intelligence within a democratic policing model. 

“Extra investment is welcome, and the key to making an impact will be to bring in outside experts and make fast decisions, so PoliceAI can support local forces to scale their use of AI quickly and transparently.”