Carbondale’s police department is now using an AI service to draft police reports. Town trustees approved a contract for the software late last month.
The KARDA software, developed by a San Francisco-based tech company, is designed to help police officers save time by writing a first draft of their reports.
The technology analyzes body camera footage and distills it into a narrative. The generated reports will require an officer to review and authorize before they’re filed.
Artificial intelligence tools have burst onto the scene in a number of fields in recent years. The assistive technology can save time and make processes more efficient, but some tools raise transparency and privacy concerns.
Carbondale Trustee Ross Kribbs said he wanted to encourage public discussion about the new technology as the police department moves to adopt the software.
“I think it's not a small deal to have AI helping out with the first draft of police reports,” Kribbs said in a Board of Trustees meeting on March 24. “Police reports are really kind of fundamental to any sort of legal process.”
Kribbs said he’s confident Carbondale can implement the technology in a way that works for police and the public.
“But it is new technology,” he said. “There are some concerns sort of out there regarding sort of best practices and how we handle this.”
KARDA, founded in 2023, lists 15 police departments on its website throughout the United States that use the technology. Five are in Colorado.
Carbondale’s KARDA contract will cover up to 14 local police officers and costs $600 per user per year — a total of $8,400 for the year.
Carbondale’s police department has been piloting the AI software since November.
Town Manager Ryan Hyland told trustees that the tech won’t supersede an officer’s judgment.
“In addition to the protocols that will be around this particular program, we do have an AI policy that is overarching for the entire organization,” Hyland said.
“We're using these technologies as drafting tools, not decision-making software,” he added.
Carbondale’s AI policy covers all town departments and details acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI. It states that town employees may not upload “any confidential, proprietary, or sensitive information.”
In a written statement, Carbondale Police Chief Kirk Wilson said that KARDA has been added as an approved tool under the policy. Wilson said that the town controls the data, not KARDA, and that Carbondale’s IT department has ensured that the tool meets the town’s criminal justice security standards.
Hyland told trustees that the town police department trained the software on “gold-standard” police reports to ensure its output meets expectations.
He added that the software has restrictions to ensure officers review the generated reports, like pieces of text — “easter eggs” — that must be viewed or removed before the report can be submitted.
Hyland said the town won’t allow officers in training to use the AI software to ensure they learn how to write reports without assistance.
He recommended a future work session with trustees and the police chief to further discuss how the police department will use AI moving forward.
