Police officials to be questioned on new technologies in law enforcement
Friday 19 November 2021
The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee will next week be quizzing police officials, as it continues its inquiry into new technologies and the application of the law.
The committee will explore topics such as who should be held accountable for the misuse or failure of technology, the legality of technologies being used, and trust in technologies built on police data amongst communities known to be particularly affected by police bias.
The session will take place on Tuesday 23 November at 11.30 AM and can be followed on Parliament TV.
Giving evidence will be:
- Professor Paul Taylor, Chief Scientific Advisor, National Police Chiefs’ Council
- The Rt Hon Alun Michael JP, Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales
- Darryl Preston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- David Tucker, Faculty Lead on Crime and Criminal Justice, College of Policing
Questions the committee is likely to ask include:
- Who should be held accountable for the misuse or failure of technology, and through what mechanisms?
- How could a police force be confident in the scope, proportionality, and legality of the technology they are using?
- Technology used by a police force should be robust and valid. What technological standards would ensure this? At what point of the procurement to deployment process would new quality standards be most helpful?
- Some algorithms trialled by police forces are described as having a high false positive rate. What standards are recommend in terms of the validity of such tools?
- Some communities are known to be particularly affected by police bias. How can they trust technological tools built on police data? What work is underway to build and maintain trust with every community?
