The UK government has invested £1.4 million into an AI call-routing system which aims to free up police time and cut wating times for victims reporting crimes.
The AI software aims to decrease the number of misdirected, nuisance, and prank calls which are made to the the national non-emergency 101 service.
The Home Office said the police’s non-emergency line receives 20 million calls each year. Around four million, or 20 per cent of these are for non-policing organisations such as local councils, NHS 111, or the 105 power outage helpline.
The line also receives “ridiculous” reports on issues from delayed pizza delivery to slow pub service and requests for a lift, which the government said waste vital time that should be spending tackling crime.
The Home Office estimates the new system will save policing up to £8.5 million each year, which will release funds for local forces to invest in their most pressing priorities.
The system has been developed by the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council, with support from Vodafone Business. It uses an AI model to match why someone is calling 101 to a set of likely reasons, then redirects non-police issues to the correct agency before the caller enters a queue.
Currently, these calls are only identified after someone has spoken to a handler, which the Home Office said wastes the caller’s time and increases wait times for people who need police assistance.
The new system has been subject to rigorous training and testing by the Home Office and police to ensure its performance is not affected by factors such as callers’ accents and phrasing.
During pilots in 15 police forces, the government said the system successfully diverted non-police issues including damage-only road traffic incidents, fly tipping, and noise complaints to the right agencies.
The Home Office stressed that there are strong safeguards in place to ensure that no one in need of police assistance is ever accidently diverted and that callers can always speak to a handler if they want to.
“Police call handlers are wasting hours fielding calls meant for other organisations. Every minute spent on these calls is time taken away from helping people who genuinely need their support,” said crime and policing minister, Sarah Jones,
“AI is already helping police catch dangerous criminals and speed up investigations. Now, it will help bring control rooms into the 21st century, freeing up time and unlocking millions of pounds. Forces can reinvest those savings into tackling the crime on our streets.”
