Police and law enforcement often need to share material with
courts or other parties whilst also protecting sensitive details
such as identities and licence plates for data security or
operational security reasons.
However, there is currently very limited use of auto-redaction
technology across policing and the wider criminal justice system
for digital media, audio, and video files - including body-worn
video footage and digital forensic evidence - and the policing
minister has made development of solutions which could be rolled
out nationally a key priority.
The Home Office funded the Accelerated Capability Environment
(ACE) to
carry out a market review of existing multimedia redaction tools
and build an evidence case into how state-of-the-art technology,
including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, could
make significant efficiency savings.
This would then be used to accelerate the development and
widespread adoption of this technology nationally, creating user
efficiencies as well as ensuring that police can confidently
share information with other organisations as needed.
Understanding existing capability
To build this evidence foundation, ACE first engaged a
business analyst to understand more about current redaction
tools, software and techniques being used or developed locally by
individual forces and shortlist the best performers.
Suppliers from our Vivace community then designed a suite of
tests to assess the suitability of the shortlisted systems and
examine their capabilities using synthetic data provided by
Surrey Police. Results highlighted both uses and limits, with a
report compiled on the systems recommended for further
exploration.
In the next phase of this fast-paced commission, six candidates
were invited to demonstrate their tools to key senior
stakeholders within the Office of the Policing Chief Scientific
Adviser, the Home Office, and policing, running live redaction on
the synthetic data to showcase the extent of the automated
redaction potential as well as the art of the
possible.
The aim of this phase was to understand and document the
capabilities of available tooling, cross reference them against
user requirements, and conduct a gap analysis to identify where
there are no or limited capabilities.
The Home Office is using the reports created by ACE to decide the
next steps that will deliver the best AI-powered automated redaction
tools into policing at the earliest opportunity.
