COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is hoping new technology will help officers spend less time on paperwork and more time responding to calls around the city.
CSPD rolled out new body-worn cameras in late November, equipped with livestream capabilities and better video and audio quality. The new cameras also have artificial intelligence (AI) software that helps write draft reports for officers using transcriptions of the camera footage.
The goal of the new technology is to reduce administrative work and improve call response times. CSPD Commander John Koch said the AI-powered report writing tool is already helping officers finish paperwork faster.
"We've had officers continually tell us that the report is taking 50, 60, 75% off of the time they would normally spend writing a narrative report. It's a substantial gain from what we've seen," said Commander Koch.
CSPD Chief Adrian Vasquez said he has already noticed a reduction in the number of calls for service waiting for a response.
“Six months ago we would see well over 100 calls for service in the queue, just waiting," said Chief Vasquez. "Every day, when I check it coming in, like this morning, there were 16 calls holding, 15 or 12 over the last couple days.”
Commander Koch said the department still needs more time to see how response times may improve with the new technology.
"I think it's too early for us to definitively say, 'Yes, this is victory. We've accomplished lower response times because of this technology.' But coupled with all the other things we're doing, I think that's the direction we're headed in," said Commander Koch.
CSPD has also implemented a new digital evidence system, a real time crime center, and a new program using drones to respond to specific calls in certain areas of the city.
So far this month, CSPD said its current average response time for a priority one call is around 17 minutes. The average response time for a priority two call is 42 minutes.
Tali'Ja Campbell has been calling for solutions to improve police response times ever since her husband was the victim of a murder-suicide in a parking lot on South Nevada Avenue in June 2023. Police said her husband, Qualin Campbell, was found dead in the driver's seat of his car alongside a man he did not know, who was found dead in the passenger seat.
A text reading "911 send please" from her husband prompted Tali'Ja to call police that afternoon. In a 911 audio recording, Tali'Ja is heard telling the calltaker, “I don't know if this is like a hostage thing. I'm not sure what's going on. I tried to call him and he's not he's no longer answering."
Colorado Springs Police officers responded to the scene more than an hour after Tali'Ja's call, which was placed as priority two for an unknown call for service.
“Over an hour is just absolutely ridiculous," said Tali'Ja. “It's not a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about it.”
She said she appreciates the department acting on possible solutions to reduce response times, but said more needs to be done to see impactful change.
"I like the fact that they are trying to go into a different direction and try and find a solution," said Tali'Ja. "However, I personally don't see a significant impact in creating AI technology that is only going to help them with a less workload of paperwork. I don't see how that's going to create an efficient system for them to have faster time response."
Chief Vasquez said the department has looked over its policies regarding AI with the help of the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office to make sure officers are staying within the law while using the AI-assisted report writing software. He said officers are required to look over each report and sign off on it to acknowledge they have reviewed it. The AI-assisted reports also have a disclaimer at the top of the report to let readers know it was generated with the help of AI.
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