Met Police Fires Special Constabulary Chief After AI Flags Phone

The Metropolitan Police has dismissed special chief officer James Deller, head of its volunteer Special Constabulary, after an artificial-intelligence monitoring system flagged that he had copied intimate images of a woman onto his police-issued phone, according to the BBC. Deller was removed from his post following a misconduct hearing held Friday, the force said.

What did the AI system find on James Deller's phone?

Investigators determined that in July and August 2025, Deller used his work phone to photograph two intimate images sent to his personal device, the BBC reported. The images had originally been transmitted through WhatsApp's "view once" feature, a function designed to make a photo disappear after a single viewing. Deller then forwarded the copies to his personal phone and deleted the duplicates from his work device, according to the force's account relayed to the BBC.

Metropolitan Police Cdr Pete Stevens said Deller's conduct amounted to "an abuse of the trust put in him," adding: "SCO Deller failed to meet that bar" and that "it is right that he is no longer able to serve in policing," per the BBC.

How does Palantir's Foundry system monitor Met devices?

The misconduct came to light through lawful business monitoring software combined with Palantir's Foundry platform, which applies AI to scan force data for patterns of concern, the BBC reported. The Met upgraded its Lawful Business Monitoring software earlier this year, a change the Metropolitan Police Federation said was not disclosed to staff as including Palantir's AI technology — what the federation described as its apparent first use for monitoring Met systems, according to the BBC's reporting.

In response, the federation's general secretary, Matt Cane, urged officers in April 2026 to be "extremely cautious" about carrying Met-issued devices while off duty, the BBC said.

What is Project Galatasaray?

The Deller case surfaced during a week-long internal operation called Project Galatasaray, which deployed the AI tool specifically to search for corruption and professional misconduct across the force, according to the BBC. The operation's scope beyond the single case was not detailed in the reporting reviewed.

How has the Met's use of Palantir been received?

The force's relationship with Palantir has drawn scrutiny from London's mayoral office. In testimony to the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee in May 2026, Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said officers were not under any "additional surveillance in the workplace" as a result of the AI deployment, the BBC reported. Jukes acknowledged the force had weighed reputational risks tied to what he called "divisive" technology, while saying it helped identify "unacceptable, dishonest, corrosive behaviours" among staff, according to the BBC.

"They deserve to be led by people who demonstrate the highest standards in all parts of their lives," Cdr Pete Stevens said of the Special Constabulary's volunteer officers, per the BBC.

Separately, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) blocked the Met from signing a two-year Palantir contract for AI-driven criminal-investigation tools, citing what it called a "clear and serious breach" of procurement procedure after the force failed to set out its procurement strategy, the BBC reported. Palantir is now suing MOPAC, alleging the office acted unlawfully, according to the same report. The dispute illustrates a split between operational use of AI monitoring inside the force — which led directly to Deller's dismissal — and oversight bodies' objections to how Palantir contracts were procured.

The episode also lands amid broader expansion of AI-based monitoring and subscription tools across sectors, from policing software to consumer platforms; HTT News has separately tracked how Meta's new AI-focused subscription plans are reshaping how companies deploy AI features to paying users, a parallel trend in how organizations are integrating AI into everyday systems.

What happens to Deller now?

Deller will be added to the College of Policing's barred list, according to the BBC, a designation that prevents him from serving in UK policing in any capacity going forward. The Met did not indicate, in material reviewed for this report, whether any criminal referral accompanied the misconduct finding.

Stevens said the "vast majority" of Met officers and staff serve London "with dedication and integrity," and that they "rightly expect robust action against the small minority who abuse their position and undermine public trust," according to the BBC. He said that standard applies with particular force to the Special Constabulary, whose members are unpaid volunteers.

The Met has not released additional figures on how many other cases, if any, Project Galatasaray's week-long run identified, based on the reporting available.