The Fairfax County Police Department will use automated technology to analyze body-worn camera footage in real time.
F aims to improve training and interaction with the general public.CPD is the first jurisdiction in Virginia to sign a contract with Chicago-based technology company Trueo, it was announced yesterday (Tuesday).
According to a press release, the technology uses artificial intelligence to process body camera footage and automatically detect events such as uses of force, pursuits, and frisks. The technology also screens for “professional and unprofessional language” by officers, “so supervisors can praise or review their actions.”
“We are proud to begin working with the Fairfax County Police Department and Chief Kevin Davis,” said Anthony Tassone, co-founder and CEO of Truleo. “Through our work with various law enforcement agencies across the country, we are confident that the implementation of body-worn analytics will increase public trust and ensure that officers are not only held to the standards of law enforcement, but also to the expectations of the communities they serve. We've seen how we can make sure that we're able to meet those needs.”
Truleo, which launched in 2021, uses technology originally developed by Tassone and co-founder Tejas Shastri on Wall Street in 2013 to “transform employee phone and text conversations,” according to the company’s website. It is said that it is used for “analysis”.
Since its launch, the company has partnered with numerous local law enforcement agencies, starting with the FBI's National Academy Associates Program and the Alameda, California Police Department in 2022. Other partners include the New York City Police Department and the Paterson, N.J., police department, which announced the program in February 2023 after Seattle police union leaders were recorded laughing about victims of police shootings. has been discontinued.
Truleo's platform uses natural language processing to detect words and phrases that may indicate notable interactions and generate transcripts of audio recordings captured by body cameras. A searchable report is then sent to the executive's supervisor.
Truleo claims its technology can reduce the workload of law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies can only analyze less than 1% of his body camera footage due to limited resources. But some civil rights activists and researchers have raised concerns about privacy and the potential for the technology to be misused.
Research shows that AI-powered speech recognition tools are often trained on biased data, resulting in less accurate interpretations of Black voices and people who speak languages other than English.
In Fairfax County, police supervisors cannot proactively review body-worn camera footage because of the department's audit procedures.
At yesterday's (Tuesday) meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' Safety and Security Committee, Police Chief Kevin Davis said the combined strength of FCPD's technological efforts will improve transparency in community sentiment and officer performance. said that it would increase.
In response to privacy concerns from Providence District Supervisor Daria Palchik, Davis emphasized that Truleo will not activate unless it is worn on the body. Camera is on.
“Truleo only turns on when the body-worn camera is activated,” Davis says. “If your body camera isn’t on, Trulo won’t be on either.”
FCPD is already using My90. My90 is a community engagement tool that conducts post-incident investigations for whistleblowers seeking police assistance. Also, Automated speed enforcement helicopters and drones, according to Davis' presentation.
The department is also expanding the use of automatic license plate readers, which were first tested in November 2022. Davis said the program quickly became a model for the region, allowing FCPD to foster community cooperation and provide more information to officers.
In 2023, the department used license plate reader alerts to recover 134 vehicles and arrest 222 people. The arrest resulted in 480 charges classified as felonies and 244 misdemeanors. FCPD was also able to locate 19 missing persons.
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