AI can improve police work
In the media image: Sam te Kiefte on Unsplash
The Dutch Police may receive an additional 300 million euros next year. Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, spoke with current affairs programme 'EenVandaag' about the possibilities of using AI to support police work.
There had previously been plans to cut the police budget, but the new coalition agreement appears to have taken those proposals off the table. Instead, the National Police may now expect an investment of 300 million euros next year. According to Bart Custers, new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) offer opportunities for the police to work more efficiently.
‘AI can be used in several ways, such as making it easier to draft statements or to search large case files,’ Custers explains. AI can also help in major criminal investigations. ‘AI tools can, for instance, detect patterns in a case file or generate analyses. They can also help gather evidence by searching through camera footage or intercepted phone calls.’
Still, the professor warns that the use of AI is not without risks. ‘Sometimes things go wrong, leading to incorrect conclusions or even the wrong person being identified as a suspect,’ he says. There is also a risk that ethnic profiling could be reinforced. For that reason, Custers argues that AI applications in police work should always be reviewed by a human.
More information?
Listen to the radio item on EenVandaag (in Dutch)
Read the article on the EenVandaag site (in Dutch)