Met police using AI tools supplied by Palantir to flag officer misconduct

The Metropolitan Police is using artificial intelligence tools supplied by Palantir to analyse internal data on sickness levels, absences from duty and overtime patterns. The aim is to identify potential shortcomings in professional standards and behaviour among its 46,000 officers and staff. The force confirmed the use of the technology in a time-limited pilot after previously declining to confirm or deny its involvement with the company. Officials said there is evidence suggesting a correlation between significant levels of sickness, increased absences or unusually high overtime and failings in standards, culture and behaviour. The pilot seeks to bring together data from multiple internal databases to help identify patterns of behaviour. The Police Federation criticised the approach as automated suspicion. A spokesperson said officers must not be subjected to opaque or untested tools that risk misinterpreting unsustainable workload pressures, sickness or overtime as indicators of wrongdoing. The federation added that any system profiling officers using algorithmic patterns must be treated with extreme caution and that the focus must remain on proper supervision, fair processes and human judgment. The Met said Palantir systems help identify the patterns but officers then explore further and make any determinations on standards, performance or other issues. The pilot forms part of a wider effort to drive up standards and improve the force's culture.