LAPD to use AI to analyze body cam videos for officers' language use

Researchers will use artificial intelligence to analyze the tone and word choice that LAPD officers use during traffic stops, the department announced Tuesday, part of a broader study of whether police language sometimes unnecessarily escalates public encounters. Findings from the study, conducted by researchers from USC and elsewhere, will be used to help train officers on how best to navigate encounters with the public and to "promote accountability," said Cmdr. Machine learning, she said at a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, "is in its infancy, but will undoubtedly become a profound element in officer training in the future." Over three years, researchers will review body camera footage from roughly 1,000 traffic stops, then develop criteria on what constitutes an appropriate interaction based on public and office feedback and a review of the department's policies, according to Benjamin A.T. Graham, an associate professor of international relations at USC and one of the study's authors. These criteria will then be fed into a machine learning program, which will "learn" how to review videos on its own and flag instances where officers cross the line, Graham said.