CSPD tests AI agent on non-emergency calls

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) began testing an artificial intelligence assistant on Wednesday, April 29, to process non-emergency calls. This initiative aims to improve response times for urgent 911 calls by allowing human dispatchers to concentrate on life-threatening situations, according to police.

Colorado Springs is one of four police departments across the country currently evaluating this new system. CSPD says, Fairfax, Virginia PD, Baltimore PD and LAPD have gone live with the system.

Police say the AI assistant, developed by Axon, is designed to triage non-emergency telephone calls for public safety. Its primary purpose is to enable human call takers in the communication center to focus solely on 911 life-threatening emergency calls, explained CSPD Deputy Chief John Koch.

"It takes non-emergency calls and allows for the initial triage, essentially to be done by artificial intelligence," said the Deputy Chief.

During the testing phase, the system is not operating autonomously; human dispatchers and vendor teams are actively monitoring it, police said.

"This is not something that we just turned on and or letting run by itself at all," emphasized Deputy Chief Koch.

He noted that all normal call takers and dispatchers are working as usual, collaborating with vendor teams to ensure no disruption to public safety or the telephone system.

Police say the implementation of the AI assistant helps address issues caused by non-emergency calls that frequently tie up dispatch lines. Deputy Chief Koch explained that people sometimes call the non-emergency line looking for information, such as asking for directions or basketball game tip-off times. These types of inquiries can impact critical 911 answer times, explained Koch.

The department has conducted extensive research and collaborated with the vendor, Axon, before initiating these tests, police said. However, officials firmly state that there are no plans to use AI for actual 911 emergency calls.

"There's so much that goes into that critical thinking and decision making in a split second that human beings have to do that. That's not even been discussed like that. That's not even an idea for us," said Koch.

City officials also support leveraging technology to address staffing considerations and improve overall response times, particularly for a city as large geographically as Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said residents can expect to see more technology being used in hopes of improving response times for both the police and fire departments.

Addressing potential concerns from residents, Mayor Mobolade acknowledged worries about privacy and "big brother" when hearing about AI or license plate readers. The Mayor reiterated that the city's focus remains on public safety and improving responses, rather than surveillance.

The Colorado Springs Police Department plans to conduct several more tests of the AI assistant over the next few weeks. Changes will be made as needed in coordination with the vendor, Axon, before the service is fully implemented.

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