Cambridgeshire Constabulary has become the first UK force to take crime reports through a conversational AI tool, with a system called Citizen Assist going live on the force's website on 24 September as a pilot ahead of a planned national rollout by the National Police Chiefs' Council.
Developed by the NPCC's Digital Public Contact programme, the tool allows members of the public to report non-emergency crime by describing what happened in their own words in a text conversation. The AI asks follow-up questions based on what the person says, compiles a structured crime report, presents it for review before submission, and files it directly into existing police systems. The person then receives a reference number and information about next steps.
Chief Constable Simon Megicks, who leads Cambridgeshire Constabulary and is Senior Responsible Officer for the Digital Public Contact programme and national policing lead for public contact, said the technology could gather more complete information by asking the right questions at the right time, making the process easier for the public and giving policing the details it needed more quickly.
He said the pilot would explore how AI could improve interactions with policing while maintaining the standards of accuracy, accountability and trust that policing depends on.
The pilot is limited to reporting pathways for assaults, threats, damage and theft, which the NPCC said would allow the technology to be tested and evaluated in a controlled environment before any wider rollout. The NPCC said the tool had been introduced with governance and oversight arrangements and was designed to support rather than replace existing policing decision-making.
In a separate force statement, Megicks said all decisions about a report would remain with police staff and officers, as with any other reporting method, and that existing reporting channels would continue to be available.
Reports submitted through the tool will be processed by the force under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018, which governs processing for law enforcement purposes. Section 64 requires a data protection impact assessment where processing is likely to result in a high risk to individuals, and section 65 requires prior consultation with the Information Commissioner where that risk cannot be mitigated.
The ICO's guidance on AI and data protection also expects controllers to address accuracy, fairness and the risk of automated processing influencing decisions about individuals. The NPCC did not identify the underlying AI model or supplier, say where conversation data is processed or retained, or indicate whether a DPIA has been completed or published.
Darryl Preston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he would be ensuring all relevant checks and balances were taking place throughout the pilot, and hoped the tool would increase accessibility while reducing the need for victims to relive what had happened to them.
Alex Murray OBE, interim director of PoliceAI, said people should be able to contact the police in the way that worked best for them, and that PoliceAI was focused on helping policing use AI safely and responsibly to build public trust.
Subject to the outcome of the pilot, the NPCC said Citizen Assist would be made available more widely across policing. The underlying capability had been designed for reuse across digital and voice channels, enabling future services including conversational reporting, advice and guidance and citizen messaging.
The NPCC's announcement can be read here: https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/policings-first-ai-online-crime-reporting-test-goes-live
