rewrite this title Policing in Real Time: Could AI Be the New First Responder?

Police control rooms have long been the unseen backbone of law enforcement, handling everything from emergency calls to digital inquiries and coordinating officer responses in real time.

At the recent ISE 2026 conference in Barcelona, Chris Philpott, Assistant Chief Officer at Humberside Police told UC Today how technology is reshaping these high-pressure environments and redefining how officers and staff engage with the public.

“A police control room is really the pointy end of policing. It’s the first contact anybody’s going to have, whether that’s on the phone or digitally,” Philpott said.

“It’s where trust and confidence is either won or lost, where we either capture information that’s going to solve something – or not.”

Modern control rooms integrate dispatch systems, records management platforms, real-time dashboards, and multimedia interfaces, enabling rapid decision-making and efficient resource deployment.

Larger forces are also experimenting with media installations to share information with local authorities, councils, and partner agencies in real time.

These setups aim to create a more connected and collaborative policing environment, where critical data is visible and actionable at a glance.

Augmenting the Human Touch

One of the most talked-about innovations in policing tech is AI, particularly in the form of virtual assistants like Bobbi – a chatbot created to answer questions from the public.

Several UK forces, including Humberside, Thames Valley, and Hampshire, have trialled Bobbi to handle routine, non-emergency enquiries online.

The AI assistant draws on the same knowledge base as human call handlers and can seamlessly transfer conversations to a real person if needed.

Importantly, Bobbi isn’t replacing emergency channels like 999, but is helping to relieve pressure on control room staff by dealing with general queries quickly.

“We designed the AI chat bot in collaboration with Thames Valley and Hampshire Police,” Philpott explained.

“At the moment, the bot is answering the kinds of questions that would come to the control room, but might not really be policing-related – things like a vehicle causing an obstruction or someone just seeking advice.”

The AI solution has already demonstrated significant efficiency gains.

“It’s providing about 75–80 percent of answers without the need for a human operator. That’s allowing us, within our control rooms, to either increase the availability of digital channels or provide digital desks without needing to deal with every single query ourselves,” he added.

Looking ahead, Philpott envisions AI taking on even more responsibility, such as recording low-level crimes directly into police records management systems, freeing officers to focus on cases that require human judgment and empathy.

“The biggest opportunity for AI in policing is to make sure our people are dealing with value-added work and having really good human conversations with people who are often in trauma – it’s about augmenting, not replacing, the human element.”

While maintaining the human touch is essential, Philpott emphasised that choice is key.

“We are very clear when somebody contacts the Bobbi chat bot that [they know] it’s a chat bot. And if people want to talk to a human, they have the opportunity to do that.

“Ultimately, we are a people-based service. We are there for people in their time of need, and therefore we have to provide, and always will provide, that human touch.”

Technology and Reform: A Changing Landscape

The UK’s recent white paper on police reform signals a major shift in how policing operates.

Centralising services and potentially restructuring forces could place technology even more firmly at the heart of operations.

For Philpott, this represents an opportunity to ensure interoperability and efficiency across forces.

“It’s an exciting time to bring tech to the centre and to ensure that we are buying it so that we are all working on the same platforms,” he said.

By focusing on shared systems and digital platforms, forces can improve operational consistency and make it easier to deploy new technology across the country.

Beyond core policing systems, innovations that support staff in their day-to-day work are also catching attention.

One example highlighted by Philpott at ISE 2026 was bone conduction headsets, which could enhance comfort and inclusivity for control room staff who spend long hours on calls.

Small ergonomic improvements like this, he noted, can have a significant impact on efficiency and wellbeing in high-pressure environments.

Collaboration and Best Practice

Modern policing increasingly relies on global collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Philpott highlighted how organisations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police and events like ISE provide platforms to exchange best practice and learn from innovations implemented in other countries.

“These environments enable us to share best practice and learn from other forces globally,” he said.

Whether it’s refining AI chatbots, improving multimedia dashboards, or adopting new communication technologies, this kind of collaboration can ensure that successful pilots can be adapted and scaled quickly.

The ultimate aim, Philpott said, is to empower officers and staff while maintaining public trust.

From AI-driven automation to real-time dashboards, the technology is designed to augment human judgment rather than replace it.

“The tech is there to augment and enable our people, not to replace them. It’s about efficiency, but also about maintaining trust, empathy, and human connection in policing,” he said.

“Ultimately, policing is a people-based service. Technology helps us do our jobs better, but it’s the human interactions that really define the success of what we do.”