Artificial intelligence software is being integrated into Heber City policing.
Police Chief Parker Sever said the technology has been a boon. One program generates police reports, which Sever pointed to as an example.
“A report that could take an hour before, an officer can now get done in about 10 minutes. So it's really, I think, a force multiplier for getting our officers out of the office and onto the street.”
The software uses body-camera footage to create a report after an enforcement action. Officers review the reports, but Sever said the auto-generated versions are high-quality.
“Having reviewed some of the reports that are written with the AI, I think its actual report is better than what the officers were writing previously,” he said. “When officers typically write reports, I mean, we can be busy…We can be writing a report, then get a hot call, and we have to go out and do that.”
According to Sever, another new software widely popular among officers provides live-time translation during traffic stops and similar activities.
The service is similarly delivered through body cameras.
“It can auto detect, I think, 70-90 languages,” Sever said. “The officer double taps his body camera, and then he can specify the language or have it auto-detect. And when the person talks to them in, let's say in Spanish, it immediately says it back to them in English. And when the officer talks in English, the body camera repeats it in Spanish.”
Professional translators are still necessary for investigations, interviews and complex events, he said.
A third program can rapidly search department policy manuals and government codes.
While police are known as ‘law enforcers,’ Sever said officers aren't trained to know every law across federal, state and municipal levels.
“I mean, there's 1000s and 1000s of codes and policies and laws for the officers to try to learn. It's impossible for them to know them all. So this allows officers to get that information so they can make sound decisions,” he said.
The software functions like an AI-enabled search engine, but instead of pulling from the entire internet it summarizes government documents and department policy books.
Sever said all platforms must comply with federal information security law.
Heber City is a financial supporter of KPCW.