Garda Siochana are going down the road of Artificial Intelligence; hope Templemore has provided the right training with a focus on neuroscience and there are courses for the elder Gardai because AI is a powerful too but to use it knowledge is the essence to success

An Garda Síochána spent €30,855 on algorithmic software last year, show records released under the Freedom of Information Act.

That sum went to Siren, which, according to its website, is an “investigative intelligence platform” that specialises in analysing multiple large data sets to spot and explore possible connections.

At the moment, An Garda Síochána is using Siren, and its version of ElasticSearch, in a limited way to “to manage Outages, Key Dependencies and display Action dashboards in the Network Operations Centre (NOC)”, according to the Garda press office.

That means to monitor IT systems and servers to check they’re working. “The importance to policing is that these systems are essential to maintain connectivity and continuity of service,” they said.

But An Garda Síochána is also “currently evaluating Siren Solutions in one of the policing business areas”, they said. “It may be used for other search-related problems in the future, including policing, but this is at early stage of evaluation.”

It’s the first time that An Garda Síochána has spent money on artificial intelligence systems, the records say – and a move in line with trends in policing in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and United States.

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