Senior Detective Faces Police Investigation Over Alleged Misuse of AI in Decision Logs

Senior UK detective under investigation for alleged misuse of AI

A senior Derbyshire detective is being investigated over potential AI-related gross misconduct and a member of staff at Gloucestershire police has been dismissed over unauthorised use of ChatGPT in the latest cases highlighting the challenges facing police forces from the new technology. The Independent Office for Police Conduct told the FT that it had begun investigating an officer after they were referred to the watchdog by Derbyshire Constabulary following an "internal review" of their use of AI. A person familiar with events said the case involved a detective chief inspector at the force alleged to have used AI to maintain "decision logs". Senior investigators maintain such logs during investigations to record why they took each step, and they can be disclosed for defence lawyers to scrutinise during court cases. Another person confirmed the account of the alleged events. The Derbyshire officer in the latest case is the most senior police figure in the UK known to face investigation over alleged AI misuse. In June the FT revealed Derbyshire Police had started a criminal investigation into another, more junior detective over allegations of perverting the course of justice involving the use of AI chatbots when preparing material for court cases. Official restrictions are designed to ensure that evidence in court cases remains free of the inaccurate "hallucinations" generated by many AI systems and to safeguard the confidentiality of police information. In the Gloucestershire case, a member of police staff was dismissed after bypassing safeguards to use an AI chatbot for police-related work "on numerous occasions". The IOPC said: "Derbyshire Constabulary made a voluntary conduct referral to us on 23 June following an internal review of an officer's use of artificial intelligence and concerns it was not in line with guidance and conditions issued by the force." The organisation added that it had decided the matter warranted an investigation. It said: "The officer in question has been served notice that they are under investigation for alleged gross misconduct." Derbyshire Police confirmed it had referred an officer to the IOPC over use of AI. The force added: "This investigation is being independently led by the IOPC and we are unable to comment further." It was not clear which police rules the officer's alleged misconduct contravened. But allowing an outside AI system to access information about an investigation could compromise confidentiality. The officer did not immediately respond to an emailed request to comment on the incident. An official at the Crown Prosecution Service indicated that it had informed defence lawyers in any cases affected by the officer's alleged conduct. The Gloucestershire worker -- whom the force did not name -- is the first member of police staff in the UK known to have been dismissed over AI misuse. According to the misconduct allegations, the staff member had used AI regularly for police work since October 2024 and continued after the force introduced a system on December 3 2024 to block access to OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot. The force said: "It was discovered in March 2025 that the person had been circumnavigating the system to continue to use it, resulting in their immediate suspension." The person was dismissed in the past few weeks. One of the misconduct counts alleged the person had compromised the integrity of confidential information by putting it into the chatbot. But an investigation subsequently showed all of the information put into the bot had been publicly available. In the case of the more junior Derbyshire detective, the force said its investigation was into the alleged use of AI chatbots to prepare documents for use in court.

Senior Derbyshire detective under investigation over use of AI

A senior detective is being investigated over potential artificial intelligence-related gross misconduct. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had started investigating the officer after they were referred to the watchdog by Derbyshire Police following an "internal review" of their use of AI. The investigation into the force comes two months after a criminal investigation was launched into another officer accused of using AI systems to "create evidential material in a number of cases". Derbyshire Police said on Monday it made a voluntary referral to the IOPC on 23 June "regarding an officer's use of artificial intelligence." The force said the latest investigation was being independently led by the IOPC and it was unable to comment further. The Financial Times (FT) reported that a person familiar with events said the case involved a detective chief inspector at the force alleged to have used AI to maintain "decision logs". Senior investigators maintain such logs during investigations to record why they took each step, and they can be disclosed for defence lawyers to scrutinise during court cases, the FT said. In June, the force started an unrelated criminal investigation into another detective accused of using AI systems to "create evidential material in a number of cases". The force said he had been removed from front-line duties, pending the outcome of the investigation. The officer is alleged to have perverted the course of justice, but police said no arrests had been made. The FT also reported that a member of staff at Gloucestershire Police was dismissed after bypassing safeguards to use an AI chatbot for police-related work "on numerous occasions". The IOPC said: "Derbyshire Constabulary made a voluntary conduct referral to us on 23 June following an internal review of an officer's use of artificial intelligence and concerns it was not in line with guidance and conditions issued by the force." The organisation added that it had decided the matter warranted an investigation. It said: "The officer in question has been served notice that they are under investigation for alleged gross misconduct." Listen to BBC Radio Derby on Sounds and follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.