Police 'investigating use of live facial recognition'

Ethical and legal concerns have previously been raised in the use of technology to identify potential criminals.

However, Ms Farrell said the force was “very much alive” to those concerns but she said it could be a crucial tool to “take violent perpetrators” off the streets.

Outlining Police Scotland’s vision up to 2030, the Chief Constable said the vision was “safer communities, less crime, supporting victims and a thriving workforce”.

She told journalists: “Technology is important. We want to open up conversations about live facial recognition because these are tools that will enable us to tackle crime and will keep people safe.”

However, a February 2023 review of emerging technologies in policing, conducted by the University of Stirling, for the force and the Scottish Government, found “various social and ethical issues” related AI technologies including biometric identification and surveillance systems.

Many concerns centred around the potential invasion of privacy and human rights, while others were the accuracy and fairness of the technologies.

Ms Farrell said the force was merely considered all aspects of the technology but drew parallels with how artificial intelligence can be used for good in the health service.

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She said: “Let’s draw a parallel. If within the NHS we get told that AI will help detect cancer quicker, we all probably would say to ourselves ‘well that sounds like a really good thing’.

“Our challenge is if I say AI will help us take violent perpetrators off the streets quicker and will keep your children safe, then somehow I need to convince you that I’m doing that in an ethical and appropriate way.”

She said the force, including Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors who attended the briefing, was aware of the challenges.

“The Deputy and I are very alive to those issues where forces across the United Kingdom have used this what were the lessons learned. There’s been some legal challenge,” she said.

“But not using those biometrics to exist in order to identify violent perpetrators, or those who commit crimes against the most vulnerable, I think it would be an abdication if we don’t explore, explain and keep pushing along this route so we can get ourselves in a position where people can look back and say ‘I’m confident they are using the technology appropriately, without bias, for the greatest good of keeping people safe.”

Scottish Tory deputy justice spokeswoman Sharon Dowey MSP said: “With police officer numbers at their lowest since the SNP came to power, the force needs all the assistance it can get to protect communities.

“However, this must not be at expense of exploiting the civil liberties of law-abiding Scots.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Constable was also forced to address concerns over the force’s shrinking estate.

In December, it was announced that 29 stations were at risk of closure due to financial constraints, with the Chief Constable stating the ageing estate was "not fit for purpose".

Since then, a spate of closures have been drafted with the force warning more could come.

The Deputy Chief Constable, Ms Connors, said: “Everybody here knows that our estate is not fit for purpose. Many of the buildings are well over 50 years old. They’re not in the right locations and the estate was built for a very different time.”

She said the force was now ensuring it had “community bases and drop ins”

“I don’t see it as a barrier. I think it is an opportunity for us to reshape our estate.”

Meanwhile, Ms Farrell said: “We have hundreds and hundreds of buildings – many of them are in such a poor condition that a notion that continuing to invest in them when they’re just not fit for purpose in any form, whether that’s serving the public or whether that’s being appropriate for staff to operate from.

“Quite clearly, what needs to happen is that over the next five to 10 years, we present a firm capital plan for the investment in police buildings that are fit for delivering policing in 2024 and beyond.

“There are some (stations) that are beyond being saved.”

She added: “There will be some difficult choices in there. And I know people are wedded to buildings and it’s important they see that Police Scotland are visible and present in communities and one way is through the buildings.

“But that is by no means the only way. We have to make a step change in the investment that goes into these buildings so that they are fit for policing now.”

She also said the Scottish Government was in “early discussions” about borrowing money to invest in the future of custody facilities.

She said: “I’m not happy that we continue to patch up what exists because we wouldn’t put that in our own personal lives.”

She told journalists: “There will be changes around the estate and we will work locally with people to ensure they have access to us but we’re going to have to make decisions because what we’ve currently got in many, many cases, is not fit for purpose.”