Baltimore's police department is poised to receive upgraded body-worn cameras and Tasers following the approval of a substantial $153 million contract with Axon Enterprise by the city Board of Estimates.
City officials have indicated that the software provided by Axon will be compatible with the existing equipment used by the police department. Notably, Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen chose to abstain from voting on this contract.
According to police spokesperson Lidney Eldridge, the new Tasers will replace aging devices that are no longer functional. The body cameras will incorporate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities designed to aid officers, detectives, and supervisors in tasks such as translation, transcription, summarization, and video footage search.
The contract includes a two-year provisional period during which officers will test the AI features. This period will allow the department and city officials to establish standard operating procedures for using the technology before it is implemented department-wide.
Other major U.S. cities have also begun integrating AI technology into their policing efforts. For example, a police station in Detroit recently upgraded its body cameras to include language translation features, which agency leaders believe will enhance service levels and improve safety.
In 2019, Axon established an AI ethics board to guide the development of its AI products. Since then, the company has introduced various AI-enhanced systems, including the Axon Assistant, which provides officers with access to police data via an app, and Axon Vision, which utilizes AI to identify critical activities in live video feeds.
Axon reports that over 210 million 911 calls are made annually in the U.S., generating vast amounts of video footage. The new technologies are expected to improve police response times by streamlining workflows.
Reported by HarborBeat based on CBS News (source).
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