How Police AI Tools Can Improve Workflow, Benefit Customer Service
What to know
- Law enforcement agencies can use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to make workflow more efficient and improving interactions with the public.
- AI in 9-1-1 centers enhances call handling by translating languages, detecting stress and clarifying speech, while also reducing non-emergency call volume.
- Investigations benefit from real-time data platforms and automated victim updates, while AI-driven analytics improve transparency, resource deployment and community trust.
Inside a 9-1-1 center, artificial intelligence (AI) can help with voice analytics that flag voice stress, help demystify garbled speech, and even interpret multilingual emergency calls to assist telecommunicators in verifying addresses and the nature of the calls. On patrol, AI and machine learning (ML) turn body-camera footage into field notes, freeing officers to stay present and focused on the conversation. In investigations, victims can receive automatic updates and even add information to their case online. Every layer of the policing workflow becomes more efficient, so that residents feel shorter waits, clearer explanations, and more consistent follow-through.
Inside the 9-1-1 Center
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AI Demystified: How LE Agencies are Leveraging Artificial Intelligence
- Law enforcement officials are turning to artificial intelligence to help close cases faster and keep officers safe on the streets.
Artificial intelligence is demonstrating practical value in day-to-day public safety operations. In Monterey County, California, an AI-driven non-emergency assistant reduced call volume by 30 percent per month, allowing live call-takers to focus on emergent 9-1-1 traffic. At the same time, a national survey of 1,379 communications-center leaders found that 86 percent are now somewhat comfortable with AI helping with call-taking tasks. handling routine tasks such as language translation and automated triage.
Location-based routing and geospatial NG911 upgrades also enhance the officer and telecommunicator experience by reducing call transfer times and enabling callers to text photos or live video, providing officers with richer context before they arrive. The net effect for citizens: less time on hold, no language hurdles, and an operator who already understands what’s unfolding.
On Patrol: More Listening, Less Typing
Report writing remains a primary responsibility for patrol officers and investigators. Some companies work to utilize AI to convert body-worn camera footage into written reports that officers only need to edit and verify. With safety nets in place, generative AI-written reports could become a valuable tool for reducing report-writing time. However, with all AI usage, verification and editing are necessary to ensure the technology accurately captures the incident's details.
Other technologies, such as Google Translate, are utilizing automatic speech-to-text and translation apps that enable officers to deliver Miranda warnings or next-step instructions in more than 180 languages. Speech-to-text apps also allow officers who prefer it to dictate their reports, verifying and editing them after they have been dictated.
Investigations & Victim Care: Closing Loops, Not Just Cases
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How Artificial Intelligence Technology is Changing Law Enforcement
- The wave of products incorporating artificial intelligence are putting new tools in law enforcement's toolbox. But the technology also brings its share of challenges.
Real-time data-processing platforms that combine video analytics, license-plate readers, and social media scraping are significantly reducing investigative timelines. A 2024 multi-city technical analysis documented a 73% reduction in investigation time and improved cooperation across jurisdictions through the use of real-time data processing systems.
Yet speed means little if victims still feel adrift. Victim assistance applications that push automatic texts or e-mails at each milestone of their case, such as detective assignment, arrest, and case filing, can help victims stay informed. However, national research from 2013 shows that just 23 percent of victims enrolled in automated-notification systems. With proactive outreach and improved online registration, those numbers would hopefully improve.
Turning Data into Dialogue
AI can also change how departments tell their story. Real-time resource platforms can track patrol coverage, crime hotspots, and response metrics more quickly and efficiently. With analytics, police chiefs can shift the community and elected officials' conversations to include evidence along with stories of police impact. For elected officials, the payoff is a clear justification for technology budgets. For residents, it is proof—updated daily—that their tax dollars translate into shorter waits and safer streets.
These gains go beyond efficiency; they reshape the service experience itself. Automated status updates keep victims informed without requiring them to chase case information. Predictive resource mapping positions units closer to likely call hot spots, trimming response times for entire neighborhoods. Chatbots on department websites answer common questions 24/7, guiding residents to online reporting or community resources without a single hold tone.
Rethinking Customer Service with AI
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Reporting Live: How AI Can Help Police Get Down the Facts
- Powered by artificial intelligence, Axon's new Draft One product assists law enforcement officers in writing detailed reports. Find out how it works and what went into its creation.
When AI operates as a silent partner, handling repeatable tasks and delivering real-time insights, public-safety professionals can devote more attention to empathy, transparency, and the human connection. And when AI shoulders routine tasks—such as translating, transcribing, sorting, and summarizing—public-safety professionals reclaim the bandwidth to focus on policing, using their training and judgment, rather than relying mainly on their typing and data management skills.
Technology matters most when it fits the agency’s long-term strategy, boosting efficiency while directly improving the lives of officers and residents. As AI transitions and becomes more prevalent in law enforcement infrastructure, departments that thoughtfully integrate it into their daily workflows will define the next era of responsive, transparent, and community-centered policing.

Toni Rogers
Toni Rogers is a freelance writer and former manager of police support services, including communications, records, property and evidence, database and systems management, and building technology. She has a master’s degree in Criminal Justice with certification in Law Enforcement Administration and a master's degree in Digital Audience Strategies.
During her 18-year tenure in law enforcement, Toni was a certified Emergency Number Professional (ENP), earned a Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Certification, was certified as a Spillman Application Administrator (database and systems management for computer-aided dispatch and records management), and a certified communications training officer.
Toni now provides content marketing and writing through her company, Eclectic Pearls, LLC.