Calling the cops just got extra AI as police seek to add tech to contact systems

Public sector

AI already listening in to call handlers in real time, conducting live database searches

Police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will add personalization and artificial intelligence (AI) to their jointly run digital contact systems through a £72 million contract to manage and develop these.

Almost all police forces in the three nations use the Digital Public Contact’s Single Online Home web platform for their own websites, with the platform also running Police.uk, a national information site, and Data.police.uk, which provides information on police-recorded crime.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which hosts Digital Public Contact services on behalf of the National Police Chiefs Council, hopes to find a single supplier for these under a new contract running from July 2027 to December 2029, with a possible three-year extension, according to a market engagement procurement notice published on 12 May. 

Existing Digital Public Contact services include the Single Online Home websites, linked services that pass information on crimes and incidents from the public to relevant officers; and the National My Police Portal, a new service using GOV.UK’s One Login to links victims with officers in charge of cases, which South Yorkshire Police started using in January. 

The new contract will also cover use of AI. In March West Yorkshire Police and Digital Public Contact started using AI to extract material from old control room calls, which at present are normally recorded but not transcribed. 

In the procurement notice, the MPS said that AI could also be used in reporting, analysis, conversational interactions and staff assistance. In a speech on the development of Digital Public Contact last October, Cambridgeshire’s chief constable Simon Megicks said that the work also includes developing a natural language switchboard that can help direct incoming calls and live services to assist operators, which is being piloted by Humberside Police.

“It supports call handlers in real time, and as they converse, the AI listens in and conducts live database searches, surfacing relevant information instantly,” he said of the assistance service at a National Police Chiefs Council innovation event. “Operators are empowered to make better decisions, quicker: reducing risk and improving outcomes for the public.”

In the King’s Speech on 13 May the government confirmed plans to merge forces in England and Wales and establish a National Police Service. The procurement notice says that the new contract will provide “a robust foundation” supporting these structural changes, although they are likely to take place beyond the end of the contract.

Following a market engagement event on 9 June, the MPS plans to publish a tender notice for the work around the end of July. ®