AI to Scan Police Body Camera Footage to Detect ‘Bad Behavior’
Some police forces are trialing body cameras that are scanned by AI technology to detect bad behavior from officers.
In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s death last month, certain police forces are trying out Truleo’s artificial intelligence (AI) system that founder and CEO Anthony Tassone says could have alerted Memphis police to the actions of the officers involved in Nichols’s slaying.
Alameda police in California reports a reduction in the use of force after Truleo’s system was implemented there.
How Does the AI Camera Catch Bad Police Behavior?
The technology actually comes via the camera’s audio, specifically the language used by officers and civilians. It can detect the use of force, civilian complaints, and non-compliance. It can also detect insults, threats, and profanity from either an officer or a civilian.
“We don’t measure cadence, tone volume. We don’t do any of that. Because a disrespectful officer can be loud, they can be quiet,” Truleo CEO Tassone tells ABC 11. “So we were really careful to just stick to the language that they use.”
In the case of Tyre Nichols, the camera footage went black but the audio was still recording meaning Truleo’s technology would still have been working.
“Even though they covered their body cameras or in some instances, they fell off, remember, you could hear everything. The audio was there. Truleo would have detected that event,” says Tasson.
“More importantly, Truleo would have detected the hundreds of events before that. The officer’s deterioration in professionalism that led up to the brutal tragic beating of Tyre.”
So far the Truleo technology is in California, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Florida.
Catching a Crime Before it’s Happened
Tasson’s suggestion that Truleo would have detected the officers’ bad behavior before the fact is reminiscent of the 2002 science fiction thriller Minority Report where Tom Cruise plays a police chief in the Precrime police department who apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge.
This type of 1984-esque surveillance is a hurdle for Truleo’s technology.
“It’s coming at a time where police departments are spread thin. The chiefs worried about morale, and whether camera analytics is going to be considered Big Brother,” Tasson tells ABC 11.
“And so we have to do a lot of education to say, you know, look, the analytics is going to help good officers separate themselves from bad apples. ”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
