Police test using artificial intelligence to write incident reports

Karah Rucker

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS BEING USED TO MAKE HUMAN LIVES EASIER WHEN IT COMES TO EVERYTHING FROM DECIDING WHAT TO COOK FOR DINNER TO HELPING PEOPLE KEEP UP WITH THEIR APPOINTMENTS AND NOW – IT’S EVEN BEING USED IN POLICE WORK. 

THE OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT IS AMONG A HANDFUL OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES USING A-I TO HELP WRITE CRIME REPORTS.

THEY’LL HAVE AN A-I CHATBOT LISTEN TO BODY CAMERA VIDEO… THEN WRITE UP A FIRST DRAFT OF AN INCIDENT REPORTS FOR THE OFFICER – SAVING VALUABLE TIME THAT COULD OTHERWISE BE SPEND PROTECTING AND SERVING.

POLICE OFFICERS WHO HAVE TRIED THE TECHNOLOGY HAVE GIVEN POSITIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT ITS ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY – ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

HOWEVER, SOME PROSECUTORS, POLICE WATCHDOGS, AND LEGAL SCHOLARS ARE CONCERNED. 

THEY WORRY OFFICERS MAY LEAN TOO HEAVILY ON A-I… AND NOT BE ABLE TO OFFER INFORMATION ON THE WITNESS STAND. 

THERE ARE ALSO CONCERNS ABOUT RACIAL BIAS AND PREJUDICES – WHICH HAVE ALREADY BEEN FOUND TO BE AN ISSUE IN A-I. 

A-I IS NOT NECESSARILY A NEW TOOL IN FIGHTING CRIME – MANY POLICE AGENCIES HAVE ALREADY ADOPTED ALGORITHMIC TOOLS TO READ LICENSE PLATES, RECOGNIZE SUSPECTS’ FACES, DETECT GUNSHOT SOUNDS AND PREDICT WHERE CRIMES MIGHT OCCUR… ALL OF WHICH HAVE LED TO PRIVACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS DEBATES. 

LAWMAKERS HAVE CREATED SAFEGUARDS FOR THOSE… BUT AI-GENERATED POLICE REPORTS ARE SO NEW… THERE ARE FEW, IF ANY, PROTECTIONS. 

BEFORE TESTING A-I-WRITTEN POLICE REPORTS IN OKLAHOMA CITY, THE DEPARTMENT RAN IT BY PROSECUTORS – WHO ADVISED SOME CAUTION BEFORE USING IT ON HIGH-STAKES CRIMINAL CASES. 

FOR NOW – IT’S ONLY BEING USED FOR MINOR INCIDENT REPORTS THAT DON’T LEAD TO SOMEONE GETTING ARRESTED.

THE NEW A-I IS CALLED “DRAFT ONE” AND WAS BUILT WITH THE SAME TECHNOLOGY USED FOR CHAT G-P-T BY AXON. 

AXON IS THE MAIN SUPPLIER OF POLICE BODY CAMERAS IN THE U-S AND AI ALSO KNOWN FOR CREATING TASERS. 

OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS TRYING OUT THE DRAFT ONE TECHNOLOGY INCLUDE LAFAYETTE, INDIANA AND FORT COLLINS, COLORADO. 

AXON IS *NOT* THE ONLY COMPANY CREATING A-I TOLLS FOR POLICE… STARTUPS LIKE POLICE REPORTS A-I AND TRULEO ALSO HAVE SIMILAR PRODUCTS.