I wondering how much this even matters in the age of everything being recorded.
If they are using axon body cameras and vehicle cameras, then usually the entire interaction is recorded, often from multiple officers.
I cannot imagine a defense so incompetent that they rely on the police report rather than watching the entire body cam footage and doing their own assessment.
Even if the cops are doing something sketchy (like turning off their camera) then it's not like the police report would be any more trustworthy.
The current administration has already removed the requirement for federal police forces to wear body cameras. As well as made statements (but little action so far) to federalize the police force to be under the jurisdiction of the DOJ. Everything being recorded may not be the case very soon.
Sorry, I’d get sources but I just woke up, I’ll edit this later with them.
I mean, already at the local cop level "forgetting" to turn the body cam on or only releasing the video (at least, quickly) if it puts the officer in a positive light seems to be the norm
“You are a helpful agent. Police officers will describe an interaction to you and you will write a report that highlights the appropriateness of the officer’s actions, omitting anything that might indicate they acted improperly”
They are not a body cam company. They sell all sorts of equipment to police, including but not limited to body cams. They used to be named Taser international (guess why!) and later branched out into body cameras. They will happily service any law enforcement client, with or without body cams.
Because people seem to be raising a concern that this AI's summaries of police interactions would be relied upon as a substitute for bodycam footage, with people citing regulations absolving police of obligations to record interactions in the first place.
But this AI is being pushed by Axon, who sells bodycam systems. Do you think they would be touting this as a replacement for bodycams?
The scenario was not Axon would persuade police forces to stop using body cameras. The scenario was police forces would decided to stop using body cameras. And the concerns about this use of generative AI are not about the vendor's identity.
It goes a lot deeper than this, the real world isn't as simple as 'objective truth' and much of the law relies on interpreting the facts we all seek. This is where this technology fails, it normalizes nudging the margins to include a framing of what happened (including that video) using particular and precise language. That language influences court decisions.
For example, the phrase 'furtive movements' seems really anochronistic. Is that a phrase you use? cops use in their day to day life? But it constantly shows up in police reports. Why? The courts have said that 'furtive' movements are suspicious enough to trigger probable cause - which justifies a search. So now, cops every where write that they observe movements that are furtive. Is what your attorney viewed furtive? where they normal movements? were they suspicious? The cop described them as furtive though and we defer to cops, in part because they speak the language of the courts, and now your arrest is valid and that search is valid and whatever is recovered is valid - because a court said movements need to be furtive and you sneezed and a cop described that as furtive even though he had already decided to do the search before he got out of his car.
The only way our system works is if at every level every participant (people, jurors, judges, politicians) distrust the words of police - especially when they habitually use the language of the law to justify their actions. What this tool does is quite the opposite, it will statistically normalize the words police use to describe every interaction in language that is meant to persuade and influence courts now and over time to defer to police.
I was thinking the same thing. If the AI report depends on the raw audio, then it should be preserved and the defense should compare that to the final police report. Having the edit history would be useful for improving the software and analyzing the officer's motivations, but ultimately we're not in a worse situation than before.
I'd predict the synthesis of the AI transcript and the police officer's memory will be more accurate than just the police officer alone. Would be nice if there's an independent study.
There are very incompetent public defenders, if we attribute to incompetence instead of malice, AI isn't changing that.
Body cameras capture a lot less than you'd think. Lets just take one example: you can't see the cop at all.
Imagine a cop says "stand over there" but a suspect doesn't know where they mean and doesn't move. Axon might well add "I pointed to the kerb" on the police report, which the police officer rubber stamps. Now the system has invented a clear non-complying suspect with nothing but their word to refute it.
Similarly shaky camera, limited field of view, poor audio, periods when cameras are off all add opportunities for camera footage to fail to prove what happened. Police reports have a lot of weight in court, they are treated as true by default.
I cannot imagine a defense so incompetent that they rely on the police report rather than watching the entire body cam footage and doing their own assessment.
Not incompetent at all. Police officers often turn in multiple reports following an incident and arrest. Sometimes they contradict each other, and it would be a foolish defense attorney who did not explore those contradictions.
Even in jurisdictions that require recordings at all times, there are times when the police are required by law to switch them off (entering certain non-public spaces etc), so there can always be gaps that are legal, never mind illegal.
This article is about Axon purposely working to make audits harder and police less accountable. Is it so hard to imagine a future feature that summarizes the body cam footage then erases it?
If they are using axon body cameras and vehicle cameras, then usually the entire interaction is recorded, often from multiple officers.
I cannot imagine a defense so incompetent that they rely on the police report rather than watching the entire body cam footage and doing their own assessment.
Even if the cops are doing something sketchy (like turning off their camera) then it's not like the police report would be any more trustworthy.