Community Attitudes Towards Data Analytics in Law Enforcement

The Centre conducted a nationally representative survey to examine the Australian public perceptions of Data Analytics (DA) in law enforcement.

The study investigated attitudes across five key applications:

• Predictive Policing
• Data Analytics-enabled Security Cameras
• Recidivism Risk Assessment Analytics
• Forensic Analytics
• Generative AI-assisted Policing

Key Insights:

• High Public Expectations for Regulation: Australians expect strong regulatory oversight across all DA applications, but express only moderate confidence in current legal protections—highlighting a regulatory gap.
• Public Sees Benefits Despite Risks: Most DA applications are viewed as beneficial, with Forensic Analytics receiving the strongest support. Generative AI-assisted Policing is seen as the riskiest and least beneficial.
• Moderate Social Licence: Public support is conditional on perceived benefit, fairness, trust, and alignment with community values. Generative AI-assisted Policing attracts more cautious views.
• Moderate Trust and Acceptance: Trust and acceptance levels are generally neutral, with higher support for Recidivism Risk Assessment and Forensic Analytics. Older and more educated Australians show greater trust.
• Pathways to Acceptance: Trust, social licence, and structural assurance (confidence in governance and legal safeguards) are key drivers of acceptance. Perceived risk remains a significant barrier.

Conclusion: These findings offer valuable insights into how Australians view the role of advanced analytics and AI technologies in public safety and justice. Australians recognise the value of DA in law enforcement but call for stronger safeguards, improved legal protections, and greater community engagement—especially around emerging technologies like Generative AI.

Download the full report here

This report was prepared as part of the research partnership between the Centre and the Queensland Police Service (QPS). We are grateful for the insightful input, expertise and feedback provided by Academics and Data Science researchers at the University of Queensland and by members of QPS.

To cite this report
Pool, J., Indulska, M., Someh, I., Sadiq, S. (2025) Community Attitudes towards
Data Analytics in Law Enforcement. The University of Queensland and
Queensland Police Service. https://doi.org/10.14264/2178369

Authors

Dr Javad Pool

j.pool@uq.edu.au

Professor Marta Indulska

m.indulska@business.uq.edu.au

Associate Professor Ida Asadi

i.asadi@business.uq.edu.au

Professor Shazia Sadiq FTSE

s.sadiq@uq.edu.au