Uni’s police study

University of Stirling experts in criminology, sociology, law and management are calling for improvements to policing technologies in Scotland.

A six-month research project is expected to help shape future policing and police-citizen relations in Scotland, and to impact policing worldwide.

The University of Stirling team looked at how technologies including electronic databases, biometric identification and surveillance, and predictive policing, are used and regulated in Scottish policing. These were considered against a backdrop of human rights impacts, ethical best practice and public confidence in policing.

The research forms part of the final report of the Independent Advisory Group on Emerging technologies in Policing (ETIAG), published last week by the Scottish Government.

The report makes 18 recommendations for improvements. these include an ethical and human rights impact assessment being mandatory in any business case Police Scotland makes for new technology, and for statutory codes of practice to ensure clarity and safeguards around live facial recognition and certain artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The report also suggests new laws for autonomous security robots if they are to be used.

The report is part of a review commissioned by then Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf in 2020.

Dr Niall Hamiltonsmith, principal investigator on the project and Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of Stirling, said:“this is an important piece of work at a time of rapid change for Police Scotland. New technologies are emerging and progressing fast, while public confidence in policing across the wider UK is at a low..it is very welcome to see Police Scotland and other partners proactively thinking through how the benefits of new technologies can be safely balanced through more rigorous scrutiny and accountability.”