Police use AI to prepare reports, may be cannon fodder for defense attorneys

Police reports sit at the heart of the criminal justice process — officers use them to detail an incident and explain why they took the actions they did, and may later use them to prepare if they have to testify in court, Reported CNN. Reports can also inform prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and the public about the officer’s perspective on what took place. They can influence whether a prosecutor decides to take a case, or whether a judge decides to hold someone without bond, said Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, an American University law professor who studies the intersection of technology and policing.

“Police reports are really an accountability mechanism,” Ferguson said. “It’s a justification for state power, for police power.”

For that reason, proponents of Draft One tout the potential for AI to make reports more accurate and comprehensive, in addition to its time-saving benefits. But skeptics worry that any issues with the technology could have major ramifications for people’s lives. At least one state has already passed a law regulating the use of AI-drafted police reports.

Draft One’s rollout also comes amid broader concerns around AI in law enforcement, after experiments elsewhere with facial recognition technology have led to wrongful arrests.

“I do think it’s a growing movement. Like lots of AI, people are looking at how do we update? How do we improve?” Ferguson said of AI police report technology. “There’s a hype level, too, that people are pushing this because there’s money to be made on the technology.”

An efficiency tool for officers

After an officer records an interaction on their body camera, they can request that Draft One create a report. The tool uses the transcript from the body camera footage to create the draft, which begins to appear within seconds of the request. The officer is then prompted to review the draft and fill in additional details before submitting it as final.

Each draft report contains bracketed fill-in-the-blanks that an officer must either complete or delete before it can be submitted. The blank portions are designed to ensure officers read through the drafts to correct potential errors or add missing information.

“It really does have to be the officer’s own report at the end of the day, and they have to sign off as to what happened,” Axon President Josh Isner told CNN.

Draft One uses a modified version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which Axon further tested and trained to reduce the likelihood of “hallucinations,” factual errors that AI systems can randomly generate. Axon also says it works with a group of third-party academics, restorative justice advocates and community leaders that provide feedback on how to responsibly develop its technology and mitigate potential biases.

The idea for Draft One came from staffing shortages that Axon’s police department clients were facing, Isner said. In a 2024 survey of more than 1,000 US police agencies, the International Association of Chiefs of Police found that agencies were operating at least 10% below their authorized staffing levels on average.

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AI is coming to your police department--'smile, you're on camera'

Axon maker of Tasers and police body cameras, has acquired a surveillance company that allows police to tap into camera networks in schools, retail stores, and other locations in cities and towns across America and apply AI technology to the footage, reported Vice. The move comes as Axon is trying to expand its cameras into retail and healthcare settings.   

Axon acquired Fusus for an undisclosed sum, according to a news release posted on Thursday. The acquisition “expands and deepens” the companies’ so-called real time capabilities. Fusus operates what it calls “real time crime centers (RTCC)” which allow police and other public agencies to analyze a wide array of video sources at a single point and apply AI that detects objects and people. These centers are reminiscent of the Department of Homeland Security’s Fusion Centers—where intelligence from a diverse number of sources is collected and shared among agencies—and have already expanded to over 250 cities and counties. 

 “With Fusus, hospitals, schools, retail stores, houses of worship, event venues and residential communities—whole cities and towns—are better protected and, importantly, can contribute to greater safety for everyone,” an Axon blog on the Fusus acquisition states. 

Axon entered into a partnership with Fusus in 2022, which the company said would allow footage from Axon body cameras and drones to feed into Fusus’ surveillance systems. Since then, Axon has announced a push to expand its bodycam business into civilian settings. Last week, Axon announced a new line of cameras called Axon Body Workforce designed to be worn by workers in retail and in healthcare. While Axon did not explicitly mention the Workforce line of cameras in its announcement, the company said that the Fusus acquisition directly supports this push. 

“This [Fusus] acquisition also further catalyzes Axon's growing presence in retail, healthcare, private security and the federal space,” Axon’s press release said.

Axon, formerly TASER, Inc., has staked its entire business on body cameras and AI since it rebranded in 2017. Despite pushing the cameras as deterrents, data shows no evidence that they’ve been effective in reducing police violence or increasing transparency. 

The rise of Fusus is concerning to rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has raised alarm over the expansion of law enforcement’s ability to easily surveil Americans. Notably, the concept behind Fusus’ solution is similar to technology that has been deployed in South Africa for years, and which experts have said exacerbates inequality in the country. 

“Axon has been one of the major funders of Fusus for years, and Axon’s more recent body-worn camera models are designed to integrate with the Fusus platform,” EFF Investigative Researcher Beryl Lipton told Motherboard. “This acquisition signals the possibility of even greater expansion of real-time video surveillance and police surveillance in general, as well as Axon’s interest in facilitating local police use of real-time crime center capabilities.”

“Axon has many existing police relationships through its [body-worn camera] and Taser markets, and every city that has an existing contract with Axon should watch out for the attempt to expand the use of surveillance tools in their streets, not only through use of Fusus but through the other tools, like ALPR and drones, which have also been a key part of the Fusus model,” Lipton continued. “Axon and Fusus may be able to expand access to these technologies through contractual amendments rather than through a procurement process with appropriate opportunities for public oversight. Local governments should always be vigilant against allowing the adoption of privacy-invasive data collection and tools, but they must be extra alert now that adoption by bureaucracy, rather than through robust public consideration, is a strong possibility.”

Spokespeople for Axon weren’t immediately available to respond to a request for comment. 

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