Short report side event (European Police Congress)

The Chair of Criminology was represented at the 27th European Police Congress on April 16 and 17 in Berlin. In a scientific side event organized by Prof. Stefanie Kemme and Prof. Wilfried Honekamp (from the German Police University), the focus was on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on police practice. In this context, there were various keynote speeches followed by discussions. One thematic area of the event focused on technical aspects and possibilities: Dr. Felix Hamborg from the Cybercrime Competence Centre of the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia presented the potential of evaluating crime events with the help of AI. Prof. Johannes Fähndrich then addressed the importance of thinking machines - and in this context, automatic reasoning in police work. Matthias Brunnbauer from the Federal Criminal Police Office focused in particular on the potential and dangers of large language models from a police perspective. Dr. Martin Hofer from the Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector (ZITiS) also referred to the challenges and solutions of AI in his presentation. Prof. Thomas-Gabriel Rüdiger from the Brandenburg Police University also referred to current and possible future manifestations of automation and robotization in police work. In another presentation, Dr. Christian Waldtmann from the company Eviden focused on the use of AI-based technologies to better manage mass crime. Prof. Niclas-Frederic Weisser from the Bremen University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration also discussed the use of AI in the evaluation of large amounts of image data by the police, albeit with a particular focus on legal issues. Dr. Robert Pelzer from TU Berlin also highlighted the challenges of using AI tools for police analysis of new digital communication spaces. Dr. Simon Egbert from the University of Bielefeld referred to the topic of predictive policing in Germany - and discussed the current status and future developments. Dr. Tamina Preuß from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg also focused in particular on "lie detection" and addressed AI-based truth-finding processes in connection with polygraphy.  Last but not least, AI also plays a role in police training, which is why Silvio Berner from the Saxon Police University focused on the role of AI in teaching police courses. Other presentations focused in particular on the significance of social changes. Prof. Roman Povalej from the Police Academy of Lower Saxony and Prof. Dirk Labudde from Mittweida University of Applied Sciences addressed and reflected on these changes. Overall, the scientific side event provided a comprehensive view of AI and its current and potential impact on police practice from a variety of perspectives - police, legal and various social science perspectives.