09 Feb Hundreds of Pittsburg Police Reports Already Written Using A.I.

Pittsburg Police Lt. James Terry spoke to City Council on Feb. 2 about the department’s use of artificial intelligence in writing reports. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Pittsburg police have generated hundreds of reports during the early rollout of a controversial artificial intelligence tool for law enforcement agencies, according to a presentation to the City Council.

Lt. James Terry told council members Feb. 2 that the Pittsburg Police Department’s use of A.I. tools from Axon Enterprise, including Draft One, which generates reports based on bodycam audio, and a real-time translator, has improved its efficiency.

“With A.I. being in the title, we wanted to do a deep dive to make sure it’s not thinking for us or rationalizing decisions or giving us ideas on what we’re doing out there,” said Terry.

From September through November of last year, officers used the translation tool more than 2,700 times, and Draft One helped generate just over 600 police reports, according to department data. Terry said the report-writing tool alone has saved officers an average of 3.25 hours per day.

Draft One, he said, has especially helped efficiency by creating “a foundation” for the reports.

“All it does is it processes the audio from our body cameras and it provides a draft narrative police report,” said Terry. Officers have to verify the information and supervisors have to approve the reports.

Axon is already a popular provider of body cameras, Tasers and other tools to law enforcement agencies, but Pittsburg is one of the first in the Bay Area, and the first in Contra Costa County, to use the Draft One and translation tools. San Francisco, San Mateo and East Palo Alto also use the Draft One technology.

Axon markets the technology as a way to improve efficiency, describing Draft One as a “force multiplier” that helps “accelerate justice.”

The translation tool, which is integrated into Axon body cameras, can provide real-time translation in more than 50 languages. Terry said it offers a more “personable” option than traditional translation methods.

Mayor Dionne Adams and council members Juan Antonio Banales and Arlene Kobata were impressed with the tools.

“I love the intersection of technology and serving the public, keeping everybody safe,” said Adams.

Not everyone is convinced. Advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have concerns about transparency and accountability with Draft One, saying that there is no “meaningful way” to audit the reports and concerns of reports lacking context because it does not process the video.

California and other states have tried to address some transparency concerns. This year, California started requiring disclosures if A.I. is used in police reports and a draft history of those reports. Axon did not include the ability to retain a record of the first draft created by Draft One, but in December launched a feature that would.

A study from Axon, the company that developed Draft One, found that its police reports were as good as or the same as officer-only written reports when it came to objectivity and neutrality and that the A.I. tool’s use of terminology and its overall coherence was “significantly better” than those from officers. However, company-funded studies are not independent and should be treated cautiously.

Pittsburg had already welcomed A.I. into the city before the implementation of the Axon tools. In 2024, council members OK’d the Pittsburg Technology Park Specific Plan, where a 76-acre data center will sit.

Elsewhere in East County, residents have voiced their criticism of A.I. in policing and otherwise. Some Antioch Police Oversight Commissioners have mentioned a need for transparency efforts when asked if the Antioch Police Department had plans to use A.I. tools. Oakley residents last month pushed back on a possible data center at a site about 15 miles away from the Pittsburg data center.