Dr Janis Dalins

Dr Janis Dalins graduated from Monash University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Computing, spending a short period in the startup space before joining the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in October 2002. His policing experiences, ranging from General Duties (uniform) policing to counter terrorism, serious organised crime, digital forensics and covert and technical operations inspired him to continue his research into the sustainable development and deployment of data-led tools and systems in law enforcement – particularly for countering crimes against children.

Dr Dalins was awarded his PhD in 2019, with his thesis Sustaining Digital Forensics through Intelligent Automation proving to be a catalyst for transformational change in academic/law enforcement collaboration. Dr Dalins, together with his PhD supervisor Associate Professor Campbell Wilson, were the founding co-directors of the Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement and Community Safety (AiLECS) Lab, a joint Australian Federal Police/Monash University research centre located with the Faculty of Information Technology.

AiLECS principally focuses on the responsible and accountable use of artificial intelligence, and data science more broadly in law enforcement worldwide. Dr Dalins was heavily involved in initiatives such as the setting of Artificial Intelligence Principles, now adopted by all policing jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand. AiLECS remains a leader in its field, both domestically and internationally, serving as a trusted voice – encouraging many tech proponents not to ask whether something can be done, but should.

Dr Dalins resigned from the AFP in March 2025, joining the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia (ICMEC-AU). He remains an affiliate with AiLECS, and contributor to numerous initiatives for countering child abuse such as the INTERPOL Specialist’s Group on Crimes Against Children technical working group, and the INHOPE Global Annotation Schema Expert Council.