AI Chatbots Revolutionize Police Reporting, Raising Legal Concerns

AI technology is making its way into police work, raising questions about its impact on the criminal justice system.

AI Takes Over Crime Reporting

In Oklahoma City, police Sgt. Matt Gilmore used to spend up to 45 minutes writing detailed reports after each incident. But now, thanks to a new AI tool, that task is done in just seconds. During a recent search operation with his K-9 partner, Gunner, every word and sound was captured by his body camera. The AI then pulled from this data to generate a comprehensive report in just eight seconds.

"It was a better report than I could have ever written, and it was 100% accurate," said Gilmore, noting that the AI even included details he had missed. Oklahoma City’s police department is among the few experimenting with AI chatbots to draft initial crime reports, and officers are praising the time-saving benefits, with Gilmore describing it as a "game changer" for police work.

Introducing Draft One: A New Era for Police Work

The AI tool, called Draft One, was developed by Axon, the company known for its Tasers and body cameras. Rick Smith, Axon’s founder and CEO, saying, "They become police officers because they want to do police work, and spending half their day doing data entry is just a tedious part of the job that they hate," Smith explained. Draft One has received positive feedback, but it also comes with concerns, particularly from prosecutors who want to ensure that officers remain the primary authors of reports they might later testify about in court. “They never want to get an officer on the stand who says, well, ‘The AI wrote that, I didn’t,’” Smith said.

The Growing Role of AI in Law Enforcement

AI technology isn't new to law enforcement. Police departments already use AI for tasks like reading license plates, recognizing faces, and detecting gunshots. However, the introduction of AI-generated police reports is still in its early stages, with few guidelines or regulations in place. Some worry that AI could perpetuate existing biases, especially since the same company providing this technology also supplies Tasers, a point raised by community activist Aurelius Francisco in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City police have been cautious, using the AI tool only for minor reports that don't involve arrests or serious crimes. This approach differs from other cities like Lafayette, Indiana, where all types of cases can be documented using Draft One. The technology is popular, but it isn't without its challenges. For instance, Fort Collins, Colorado, officers found that excessive noise in certain areas could interfere with the AI’s accuracy.

Axon initially experimented with computer vision to analyze video footage but found that the technology wasn’t ready for deployment due to concerns over sensitivity and accuracy. As a result, they focused on refining the audio-based system unveiled in April.

Balancing Efficiency with Legal Concerns

The AI tool relies on the same generative AI model behind ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, with additional controls to ensure accuracy. Noah Spitzer-Williams, who manages Axon’s AI products said that turning down the “creativity dial” helps the model stick to facts so that it “doesn’t embellish or hallucinate in the same ways that you would find if you were just using ChatGPT on its own,” he said.

Axon hasn’t disclosed how many departments are using the technology, and there are other startups like Policereports.ai and Truleo with similar products, but with Axon's strong ties to police forces across the country, AI-generated reports could soon become a common tool.

Legal scholars like Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at American University, urge for a broader discussion about the implications of AI in police work. He’s particularly concerned about the potential for AI to introduce subtle inaccuracies, known as "hallucinations," into reports. "I am concerned that automation and the ease of the technology would cause police officers to be sort of less careful with their writing," Ferguson said.

Ferguson emphasized that police reports play a crucial role in deciding whether an officer’s suspicion is sufficient to justify restricting someone’s freedom. In many cases, particularly for misdemeanor offenses, the report may be the only evidence a judge reviews.

The Future of AI-Generated Reports

While Ferguson acknowledged that human-written reports are not without their own issues, he pointed out that it's still unclear which method—human or AI-generated—will prove more reliable in the long run. At the conclusion of the report, the officer is required to check a box acknowledging that the report was generated with the assistance of AI.

Despite these concerns, some officers are already adapting to the new tool by narrating events to their body cameras more thoroughly to ensure their body cameras capture everything needed for the report. As this technology spreads, it's likely that police practices will continue to evolve.