The Authority is focused in supporting Police Scotland to embrace new and emerging technologies in a way which builds and enhances public confidence in policing.

To support our understanding of public opinion in relation to use of technology we commissioned our third in a series of technology focused public opinion surveys in late 2023.

The technology focused Understanding Scotland survey, produced in partnership with Diffley Partnership, was first undertaken in 2020, then repeated in 2021 and 2023. This time series polling gives us a current view but also helps us understand changes over time.

The most recent polling tells us that there is clear support for using technology to tackle crime, across all areas of policing including the policing of large crowds and the use of tasers. We also know that men and those aged 16-34 are positive about the potential positive impacts of technology on society, however they are less supportive of the police adopting new technologies.

In 2020 and 2021 most respondents were optimistic about the impact of new and emerging technologies on society, however by 2023 less respondents felt this way. However the support for new technologies being used to tackle crime has remained relatively stable over the time series, with high levels of support for the use of technologies which could identify and tackle online child sexual abuse (91%), tackle fraud and trace stolen money (89%), trace people missing from home (88%) and track suspected criminals (82%).

Respondents remain supportive of the adoption and use of technologies such as body worn video (90%), drones (87%), and identification tools (81%). Respondents were less certain about use of AI for data analysis at 70% support and use of tasers at 66%.

Insights in relation to technology align to insights from the Authority’s polling overall, which strengthens and enhances our understanding of wider public confidence in trust in aspects of policing.