Victim of a crime? You’ll have to talk to our robocop

CRIME victims will soon ‘talk’ to a computer when they contact police to report offences.

Police ‘chatbots’ will take reports from members of the public by text message or online, recording details of their ordeal and giving advice in response, under the new system.

Victims using an Amazon Alexa will be able to actually speak with the ‘robocop’ and hear its replies. The chatbot will also record evidence such as CCTV footage.

As The Mail on Sunday has reported, police forces across England and Wales are increasingly keen for the public to report crimes online rather than in person or over the phone.

But Northamptonshire Police is taking this a stage further with the introduction of the computer program that will replace control-room call handlers.

Police chiefs hope the system being launched by the force later this month will cut demand on the 101 non-emergency number and save money.

But critics say it risks making the police yet more remote, following the closure of hundreds of police stations and the axing of thousands of ‘bobbies on the beat’.

Simon Clifford, Director of Technology and Digital Transformation for Northamptonshire’s policing tsar, told The Mail on Sunday that the ‘Digital 101’ project will ‘allow wider engagement via chat software on phones/computers’.

He said: ‘It will allow the reporting of crime, intelligence reports and the delivery of police information akin to calling 101 through an intuitive interface on users’ preferred communications platform includ- i n g Facebook Messenger, Skype and WhatsApp.’

In a presentation given to a recent conference on ‘bot’ technology, Clifford explained that the technology was being introduced because police are losing evidence and intelligence as ‘too many calls are left on hold’ by control-room call operatives.

He also stressed that the new system helped the police ‘capture video, data and text’ evidence.

It was developed for smartphoneusers because of their popularity, he said, and because ‘people prefer the immediacy’ of text chat.

It will work on existing platforms such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Skype rather than a dedicated police app, as this will ‘reduce cost’.

As well as taking in information from crime victims, the chatbot will be able to give out advice and issue witness appeals.

A report seen by this newspaper shows that the Metropolitan Police, Britain’s biggest force, is also investigating the technology.

The report predicts that within 18 months, police will receive calls from devices such as Apple watches and Fitbit bands, or cars equipped with new emergency systems.

‘That contact may be triggered by the human issuing a command to their bot, or it may be automatically generated by the bot through AI,’ it said.

Last night Harry Fletcher, organiser of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Victims of Crime, said: ‘This is more evidence of police becoming more and more remote from the community and victims they serve.

‘To ask people to talk to a computer rather than a person minimises the impact of the crime and risks undermining victims’ confidence in the justice system.’

‘Critics say it risks making police yet more remote’