Arizona Sheriff’s Office Uses New AI Program to Help Write Case Reports
Law enforcement turns to AI
As artificial intelligence becomes more common, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona is looking at how it can use the emerging technology. Since the beginning of the year, MPs have been testing a program called Draft One, from Axon.
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TUCSON, Arizona – As artificial intelligence becomes more common, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is looking at how it can utilize the emerging technology.
Earlier this year, officers began a test of Axon’s Draft One, which is a program that writes incident reports using AI. A body camera records the interactions, then the program uses the audio plus any additional information from the deputy to create a first draft. The deputies then review everything before presenting the final report.
“They can check for completeness, accuracy and all that,” Capt. Derek Ogden said, “but they can’t present the first initial draft as a case report.”
Demonstrating the program, Deputy Dylan Lane showed how Draft One can write a case report that would have taken 30 minutes to complete in five minutes.
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A Pima County deputy opens Draft One to begin writing his case report. Once finished, you will check it for accuracy before sending it. (Amalia Roy)
“Most of that time is just quick changes, making sure all the information is still accurate and then just adding those little details,” Lane said.
Ogden said Draft One saves crucial time during shifts when officers handle multiple incidents in a row. He said the program is one of several ways the department is exploring artificial intelligence tools.
Draft One writes a case report using footage from an Axon body camera. (Amalia Roy)
“Recently, we saw a detective from our criminal investigation division use AI to identify an unidentified deceased person,” Ogden said. “We are also looking at ways to increase the productivity and efficiency of our patrol officers and some of our correctional officers.”
Law enforcement agencies across the country are evaluating how artificial intelligence could help their departments, especially when it comes to resource shortages.
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“Many police agencies have limited budgets. It’s very attractive for them to have a tool that allows them to do more with less,” said Max Isaacs of The Policing Project, a nonprofit within the New York University School of Law that studies public safety and police accountability.
Isaacs said that while AI offers opportunities to save resources, there isn’t much data on how much help these programs actually provide.
A Pima County deputy uses an Axon body camera in a simulation of an emergency call. (Amalia Roy)
“There are many examples of crimes being solved or efficiencies being achieved,” Isaacs said, “but in terms of large-scale studies that rigorously show us the amount of benefit, we don’t have them yet.”
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Isaacs also raised the issue of accuracy.
“AI is not perfect. It can rely on faulty data. The system itself could be flawed. When there are errors in AI systems, that can have pretty serious consequences. It can lead to false arrests. It could lead investigators to a dead end and waste time and resources,” Isaacs said.
In addressing those concerns, Ogden agreed that the information may be erroneous. He said that’s why human eyes should review every report written with Draft One.
After a successful test with 20 officers, Ogden said the next step is to expand Draft One to correctional officers.
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Amalia Roy joined News in 2025 as a multimedia reporter based in Phoenix.