Smell detectors could be installed inside criminals' homes
The detector, which uses synthetic brain cells and artificial intelligence (AI) to replicate the behaviour of a human nose, is one of a series of devices pitched by tech companies to prisons and Lord Timpson, the probation minister, on Tuesday.
It can 'smell' spice or fentanyl and could be deployed in the homes of offenders as part of their probation conditions or their community sentence, as well as used in prisons to try to tackle drug abuse.
Cameras could also be installed inside offenders' homes, with AI used to analyse offenders' behaviours, ensuring they comply with licence conditions.
The technology was among devices produced by seven 'finalist' companies, whittled down by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) from more than 90 submissions.
They had been chosen as part of a competition to find ways of improving how the criminal justice system monitors criminals and cuts reoffending.
Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has said emerging technology has the potential to 'impose a digital prison outside of prison'.
The Government has accepted recommendations from the independent sentencing review to tackle overcrowding behind bars, which will see fewer criminals jailed and more serving sentences in the community.
Lord Timpson said: 'We inherited a justice system in crisis and in need of reform. Prisons and probation are working in analogue while tech drives forward a new digital age.
'That's why we have invited companies to present bold new ideas to help us deliver tough punishment and enhanced surveillance.
'Embracing new technologies will help us to protect victims, reduce reoffending and cut crime as part of our plan for change.'
Alcohol tagging
Other tech ideas pitched included software to help staff consistently input information on offenders and transcription tools to cut administrative tasks.
Another finalist was the company behind alcohol tagging, which has seen thousands of offenders fitted with the sobriety tags. Criminals on the tags have stayed sober 97 per cent of the time.
The successful businesses will have their proposals considered for pilot rollouts, helping staff on the front line to tackle violence in prison and monitor offenders.
Tracking devices inserted under offenders' skin, robots assigned to contain prisoners and driverless vehicles used to transport them were among the measures proposed by technology companies at a meeting of more than two dozen tech companies last month.
'Deeper collaboration between government and tech'
The meeting, chaired by Ms Mahmood, included representatives of Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Palantir, which works closely with the US military and has contracts with the NHS.
Ms Mahmood told the tech companies she wanted 'deeper collaboration between government and tech to solve the prison capacity crisis, reduce reoffending and make communities safer'. She invited them to 'scale and improve' the existing use of tagging 'not just for monitoring but to drive rehabilitation and reduce crime'. Lord Timpson called for a 'tech-led approach to justice'.
The initiative is the latest sign of the Labour government's embrace of the technology industry to help deliver efficiency savings in creaking public services, from schools to hospitals. In January, Sir Keir Starmer declared that AI was a way 'to transform our public services' and spoke about 'totally rewiring government'.
At the meeting last month, hosted by the industry lobby group Tech UK, ministers asked the tech companies what a 'digital, data and technology-enabled justice system' could look like in 2050.
Responses included: 'Real-time behaviour monitoring and subcutaneous tracking' to support the health, and 'behaviour management' of people under the control of the criminal justice system; artificial intelligence advisers to support offenders' rehabilitation; and robotics 'used to manage prisoner movement and containment' including 'self-driving vehicles [to] transport prisoners'.
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