Developed by Motorola, the tech analyses data including criminal records, family history and Facebook posts to help officers “corner” the suspect.

It apparently examines the “amount of light” and scours possible escape routes by checking “streets, windows, doors... population of an area”.

The press is all excited because it is a little bit like, but not really, the “pre-crime” prediction system used by police in the 2002 Tom Cruise film Minority Report.

According to a patent filed with the Intellectual Property Office, the system aims to make capture more likely and cut the danger to police and public.

It consists of a main computer which, after a chase begins, crunches the data to work out the fugitive’s route, a “capture location” and a “cornering strategy” by closing off escape routes.

Coppers then get “turn-by-turn instructions” by voice or text to their phone, smartwatch or goggles. 

The patent claims the system could help tell the exact moment to deploy a stinger spiked tyre-bursting device, set up a road block or send up drones.

The system analyses street size, public transport data and “information from news and social media sources”. Officers would get access to real-time video including CCTV, body-worn cameras, number plate readers and webcams.

Motorola already supplies the Met’s Airwave radio system. A Motorola Solutions spokesman said the company “provides police and emergency responders with technology that can extract critical intelligence from raw data to aid in the search and apprehension process.”