Councilwoman O’Brien Calls for Testing Technology That Could Cut Police Paperwork Time and Increase Community Time

PHOENIX – At the request of Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, the Phoenix Police Department has launched a 90-day pilot of an AI-assisted tool that creates a first draft of a police report from body-worn camera audio. Officers must review and correct every draft before it can be entered into the Department’s records system.

"Phoenix, like many cities, is facing a significant officer shortage, and every hour an officer spends on paperwork is time they can’t spend answering calls or connecting with the neighborhoods they serve,” said Councilwoman O’Brien, who chairs the City’s Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee. "I asked the Police Department to test this technology because we owe it to residents to try new approaches. This pilot program will let the Department evaluate results before making a larger decision.”

What the pilot will test

The pilot is running in the Patrol Bureau of the Mountain View Precinct and the Family Investigations Bureau and the Assaults Unit within the Violent Crimes Bureau of the Mountain View Precinct. The Department will measure:

• Patrol: overtime, response times, calls answered, arrests, body-camera activation rates, and time to write reports
• Investigations: case-management overtime, call-out overtime, case disposition, and time to write reports

The City has made no assumptions about the tool. This pilot will show how it performs in Phoenix.

Human accountability is built in

• Officers must review and correct every draft before it can be entered into the Department's records system.
• Each report requires a signed attestation from the officer that it is an accurate representation of their recollection of the events.
• Drafts can only be built from transcribed audio of actual recordings.

How it works

1. An officer's body-worn camera is turned off and its encrypted footage is uploaded.
2. Axon DraftOne generates a draft narrative from the transcribed audio.
3. The officer edits and corrects the draft, then signs the attestation before the report can be entered into the Department’s records management system.

What happens next

After the pilot ends on December 31, 2026, the Police Department will assess the results and decide whether to evaluate the tool further or move toward Department-wide use.

Media Contact
Christina Estes, Director of Communications
christina.estes@phoenix.gov
602-520-2762 call or text

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