The Scottsdale company is developing an AI tool for writing police reports

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Scottsdale-based Axon is now selling an artificial intelligence product that promises to write police reports for officers based on its interpretation of what the officer’s body camera records.

The company introduced the product, called Draft One, in April. CEO Rick Smith spoke in more detail about Draft One during the May earnings call.

“Police officers didn’t get to write reports in this career,” Smith said, adding that up to 40 percent of a police officer’s time is spent filling out paperwork. “This is valuable time that they could be spending in their communities, their families, in training or on their own well-being.”

Axon said Draft One is based on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service platform.

According to a demonstration video, an officer’s body camera uploads a recording of a service call to Axon’s platform. Draft One then analyzes the recording and produces a written report of what happened from an officer’s perspective. The demo also shows AI, including asking an official to expand the report or add details.

These reports, like handwritten reports, are certified for their truthfulness.

However, there are critics of the idea of ​​leaving aspects of law enforcement to AI.

“There’s no point in having a computer write your report if things can be left out,” said attorney Jacquese Blackwell.

Blackwell has a history of representing the families of people shot by police. He represented the family of Dion Johnson, who was shot and killed by a DPS trooper in 2020.

Blackwell said lawyers could use AI’s involvement to challenge the report’s accuracy in court.

“If I ask the officer, ‘Did you write the report?’ And he says: ‘No, the computer wrote it’. I think the jury might laugh at that,” Blackwell said.

Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he is concerned about the accuracy of any AI because some have been shown to “hallucinate” facts or summarize events inaccurately.

“If an officer says something like, ‘Drop the gun!’ Does the police report say “I told us to drop the gun” or does it say “The suspect was armed”? “AI has flaws,” Guariglia said. “She doesn’t understand nuance.” She often doesn’t understand common expressions. It doesn’t understand technical jargon or different languages.”

But during the earnings call, Smith said Axon addressed concerns about accuracy and even bias, pointing to the company’s studies that show safeguards are in place.

“We have done a lot of background work with our Ethics and Equity Advisory Board, district attorneys and others, examining the risks,” Smith said. “We’re making sure we install speed limits there.” That’s why officials are checking the final report. It’s really important that it’s theirs.

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