Morocco’s Police Force Embraces AI and Digital Upgrades in 2024

The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) attaches great importance to digital transformation. This is evidenced by its annual report for 2024. The technical teams of the DGSN have integrated the police station management system, known by the acronym GESTARR, into the new computer platform dedicated to the management of crime and delinquency cases in the police stations. This platform makes it possible to monitor the processing of cases handled by the police stations, from the initial data collection via GESTARR to their transfer to the competent judicial authorities, through the investigation and investigation stages. It has been used to manage criminal cases and offenses in several cities such as Kénitra, Tangier, Marrakech and Meknès, as well as in the regional directorates of Ouarzazate, Errachidia, Taza and Al Hoceima, and the provincial directorates of Salé, Safi and El Jadida. This system will soon be deployed nationwide.

The technical services of the DGSN have also developed several computer applications and solutions to enable police officers to carry out their missions in an optimal way. An independent computer program has been designed to equip the forensic identification services with an integrated national database containing suspect profiles, accompanied by their identification characteristics and distinctive physical features, the DGSN said. It will specify that this application allows the judicial police services in charge of criminal investigations to identify suspects more quickly and accurately when combined with an artificial intelligence tool. This application is currently used on an experimental basis in the police prefectures of Casablanca and Agadir, with a view to a wider deployment in the near future.

The DGSN services have also continued the deployment of an integrated urban video surveillance system, in order to ensure the effectiveness of security interventions in public space and to strengthen the control mechanisms of police patrols. This system includes public camera networks covering the major agglomerations of the cities of Casablanca, Marrakech, Fès, Meknès, Agadir, Rabat, Tétouan, Safi and Oujda, the DGSN also specifies. Implemented as part of partnerships with the competent local authorities, this system is supported on the ground by a system of more than 4,300 cameras worn by the police officers, as well as cameras installed on police vehicles. The whole is connected to the new generation of command and coordination rooms, thus guaranteeing increased efficiency and responsiveness during interventions in public space.

The DGSN continues to implement its strategic plan to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into police activities. In this sense, it has continued to test the second generation of a new technological system. Implemented in the police prefectures of Casablanca and Agadir, this system uses the urban video surveillance camera networks and the portable cameras of the national police for the automatic reading of vehicle license plates on urban road axes. This technology made it possible, in 2024, to detect 246 reported stolen vehicles and 410 vehicles whose owners were the subject of national search warrants for their alleged involvement in various criminal acts, it is specified.