05/09/2025
This Sunday...
Theme: ICT and AI in policing
In commemorating the International Day of Police Cooperation, the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Policing highlights the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the field of law enforcement.
In the digital age, policing extends far beyond city streets. The contemporary threat landscape is now dominated by cyber-enabled crimes, requiring law enforcement to analyse vast repositories of digital evidence in complex cross-border cases that often blend online and offline crimes.
In the hands of malicious actors, AI tools and other ICTs are sophisticated instruments for criminal activity and effecting widespread harm at scale. Digital platforms, encrypted communications, and anonymizing tools are exploited for cyber-enabled crimes such as fraud, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation and abuse, gender-based violence, drug trafficking, terrorist and violent extremist recruitment schemes, and illicit financial flows. When powered by new technology, and in particular AI, these criminal threats are effected with a speed, scale, and stealth previously unimagined.
At the same time, the efficiencies offered by digitalization have precipitated a rapid increase in the use of new and advanced technologies in the criminal justice sector. From an operational point of view, the use of technology in policing has considerable potential to assist in prioritizing and optimizing scarce resources while also achieving improved responsiveness. The core policing functions of prevention, identification, investigation and prosecution of crime can be strengthened, for example, by AI-enabled systems for the identification and tracking of suspicious financial activities, improving biometric systems for more accurate identification of suspects, and facilitating targeted surveillance.
The responsible use of new technologies has the potential to mitigate risks of secondary victimization, corruption, torture, and abuse of power, including through the digitalization of records, the routine video-monitoring of policing practice, and the recording of statements by victims, witnesses and persons suspected or accused of crime. Additionally, the increased availability of online services and digital connectivity has significant potential to enhance access to legal information and law enforcement services, thereby strengthening equal access to justice for all – including for those who live in areas without immediate access to policing services.
