VeriPol computer tool studies text to identify false police statements

Developed by scientists in Wales and Spain, the tool can reportedly spot if somebody has filed a fake police statement based on the text included in the document.

Using automatic text analysis and advanced machine learning techniques, the tool is said to have identified false robbery reports with over 80 per cent accuracy.

The tool has now been rolled out across Spain to help support police officers and indicate where further investigations are necessary.

VeriPol is specific to reports of robbery and can recognise patterns that are more common with false claims, such as the types of items reported stolen, finer details of incidents and descriptions of a perpetrator.

The research team, which included computer science experts from Cardiff University and Charles III University of Madrid, believe the tool could save the police time and effort by complementing traditional investigative techniques, whilst also deterring people from filing fake statements in the first place. The results of the study have been published in Knowledge-Based Systems.