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Commissioner Mark Rowley says savings from automation are now ‘at risk’
London’s Metropolitan Police (MPS) plans to cut around 700 additional front-line positions after it was blocked from signing a software contract with US supplier Palantir, Commissioner Mark Rowley has revealed.
On May 20, the capital’s deputy mayor for police and crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, refused to approve MPS’ plans to hand over a Unified Operations Analysis (UOA) contract worth up to £50 million over two years to Palantir.
The military already uses Palantir to examine professional standards for its own officers.
In a written report submitted to the London Police Commission on June 11, Rowley said the MPS needed to cut 1,150 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the current financial year to balance the budget. UOA could have covered about 500 of these by reducing staff time spent on behind-the-scenes tasks such as intelligence reporting, mobile device analysis, and data processing.
“Following the decision not to enter into a contract with preferred supplier Palantir, the realization of these approximately 500 FTE reductions is now in jeopardy,” Rowley wrote, adding that the UOA is likely to authorize the force to reduce an additional 200 FTEs in serious organized crime (SOC) positions.
“We are now in a scenario where, in the absence of additional new funding, we will have to identify and implement annual cuts to services for Londoners, rather than using technology to automate areas of MPS management and research that are critical,” the Secretary wrote.
If MPS can quickly find an alternative route to UOA capabilities, “we may be able to avoid these cuts,” Rowley said. But procurement is likely to take months, and forces will need to plan for significant reductions in front-line security.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor fully supports the Metropolitan Underground in leveraging modern technology to increase efficiency and improve police performance. However, as with any procurement, we must always ensure that the correct processes are followed and that Londoners get value for money.”
“In this case, the Met did not provide a procurement strategy to obtain the necessary approvals, and the process undertaken by the Met did not adequately demonstrate the value for money of the proposed contract at this price point for Londoners.Given that police forces operate under severe budget constraints, it is even more important that a robust process is followed when awarding large contracts.”
“The Metropolitan is certainly facing a difficult financial situation, due to the deep cuts implemented by the previous administration and the significant underfunding of the Metropolitan’s capital responsibilities. The Mayor has already doubled the police budget from City Hall and will continue to do everything in his power to support the Metropolitan and secure the state funding our city’s police force needs.”
The controversy comes as the Home Office announced a large-scale trial in up to 10 forces this year aimed at expanding the use of AI across the police force in England and Wales, to help officers process digital evidence. This work will be led by a new organization, PoliceAI. ®
