Scotland Yard is using AI tools provided by US tech company Palantir to monitor the behavior of its staff in a bid to root out failing police officers, the Guardian reported.
The Metropolitan Police has previously refused to confirm or deny whether it used technology provided by the company, which is also used by the Israeli military and President Donald Trump’s ICE operations. The company has now confirmed that it is using Palantir’s AI to analyze internal data on sickness levels, absenteeism and overtime patterns to identify potential deficiencies in its professional standards.
The National Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file police officers, criticized the approach as “automatic suspicion.” “Executives should not be exposed to opaque or untested tools that risk misinterpreting unsustainable workload pressures, illness, overtime, etc. as indicators of misconduct.”
With 46,000 officers and staff, the Met is Britain’s largest police force and has faced a series of controversies, from failing to properly vet officers to condoning discriminatory and misogynistic behavior, highlighted by the murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Cousins.
“Evidence suggests there is a correlation between significant levels of illness, increased absenteeism and unusually high levels of overtime, and deficiencies in standards, culture and behavior,” the force said.
By integrating data from multiple existing internal databases, the purpose of the limited-time pilot of Palantir’s technology was to “help identify behavioral patterns among executives and staff” and was “part of a broader effort to raise standards and improve the culture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
He added: “While Palantir’s systems can help identify patterns, it is up to executives to investigate further and make decisions about standards, performance and other issues.”
A Police Federation spokesperson said: “Any system that uses algorithmic patterns to create profiles of police officers must be treated with extreme caution. Police already operate under the most extensive and deepest scrutiny of any profession…If the force is serious about raising standards and public trust, it must remain focused on good oversight, fair process and human judgment, rather than the automation of suspicion.”
Palantir is embroiled in an ongoing controversy over Peter Mandelson’s role as Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the United States before he was sacked over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Global Counsel, a lobbying firm co-owned by Mr. Mandelson, works for Palantir, a company co-founded by Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire who supports Mr. Trump.
Mr. Mandelson and Mr. Starmer visited Palantir’s technology showroom in Washington, D.C., last year and met the company’s CEO, Alex Karp, shortly after Mr. Mandelson’s appointment. MPs are calling for greater transparency around Palantir’s public sector contracts in the UK, including the £330m contract it signed with the NHS in November 2023 to provide a federated data platform, and the £240m contract agreed with the Ministry of Defense in December 2025.
In response to the Met’s Palantir trial, Martin Wrigley MP, Liberal Democrat member of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee, said: “I am concerned about the rights of staff as employees. Bosses spying on staff has been controversial since before anyone used AI. Palantir appears to be monitoring every aspect of government. Who is monitoring Palantir?”
Palantir’s AI is already available to several other police forces to assist with investigations as part of services provided through two regional investigation units.
In last month’s Police White Paper, Labor said it was “committed to supporting police forces to deploy AI responsibly, at pace and scale”. The party plans to invest more than £115 million over the next three years “to support the rapid and responsible development, testing and deployment of AI tools across all 43 Armed Forces in England and Wales”.
A Palantir spokesperson said: “We are proud that our software is being used to deliver better public services in the UK. This includes improving police services, expanding NHS services and helping Royal Navy ships extend their time at sea.”
