Posts Tagged ‘surveillance’
TrustStat AI to Begin Monitoring Spokane Sheriff Deputies’ Bodycam
Artificial intelligence could be the new “virtual sergeant” at the Spokane Sheriff’s Office. AI may soon be assessing every word spoken by patrol deputies on their bodycams. The U.S. Attorney announced that the sheriff’s office is receiving $945,520 to implement TrustStat AI, which will “analyze body-worn camera video and identify key behaviors and language related to de-escalation, use of force, and other critical areas of deputy performance.” As a defense lawyer in the court system, it will be interesting to see how this is implemented.
While high-tech surveillance in Spokane has traditionally been aimed at the public—through drones and license plate readers—AI is now being used to monitor police bodycam footage, with software from TrustStat and Truleo. It’s unclear whether the local union was (or will be) involved in the implementation of AI monitoring of its members. Some police unions have opposed AI surveillance, and departments in cities like Seattle and Vallejo, CA, have successfully shut down AI monitoring of their officers’ interactions.
Many people assume that bodycam footage is reviewed routinely, but it isn’t. There are simply too many hours of video, and police supervisors typically only monitor footage when there is a complaint. Prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers usually review only selected clips relevant to their cases. As defense lawyer I sometime use AI to analyze bodycam videos and transcribe them, but the software I use is rather rudimentary. Artificial intelligence software like TrustStat and Truleo, however, analyzes every word spoken by officers, their tone of voice, use of swear words, whether they interrupt others, and whether their language is clear. The AI system begins by collecting a voice sample from each officer, known as a “voice print,” to identify them. Keep in mind that an officer’s voice can be captured not only on their own bodycam but also on the bodycams of their colleagues. TrustStat also collects data on arrestees and members of the public, but it reportedly makes efforts to anonymize that data. Truleo, in its initial public stock offering, promised to create “baseball card stats” for each officer and emphasized that “body camera data needs to be analyzed so we can a) reward good officers, b) remove or retrain bad officers, and c) train new officers.”
The ACLU initially opposed AI analysis of police bodycams, but civil libertarians have expressed concerns even when police departments abandon AI monitoring. After pressure from the police union, the Seattle Police Department abandoned the use of Truleo. This decision followed an incident in which a police detective was overheard joking about the death of a pedestrian killed by a police officer speeding through town on an emergency call. A similar controversy arose when Vallejo, CA, cancelled its use of AI to monitor officer conduct. Truleo’s Twitter account reportedly stated: “[Police] chiefs around the country lack the courage to analyze 100% of their videos because they suspect a HUGE portion of the department is performing unprofessionally.” So, it will be interesting to see how TrustStat is received in Spokane. The idea of employees being monitored for professionalism shouldn’t be too surprising in modern American culture. For example, employees on the phone are often monitored for their language use. In many workplaces, emotion-detecting AI monitors biological signals such as tone of voice, facial expressions, and data from wearable devices to gauge how employees are feeling. It seems the motivation behind police agencies using AI is to avoid lawsuits, as the software could help them identify and address potential problems. The technology also appeals to police agencies seeking to exit federal consent decrees.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. In the past, police officers often had colorful vocabularies and could seem rather hard-nosed to outsiders. The stressful nature of their work traditionally leads to a certain level of gallows humor. The use of TrustStat and Truleo will undoubtedly offer benefits but could also result in police officers sounding more like customer service agents at a call center. Officers will likely learn to tailor their interactions to please the algorithm. As one article pointed out, “Truleo is clearly following a formula—officers who use more than 25 words to explain something get points for ‘professionalism.’” Some officers reportedly told researchers they were “playing the game” according to Truleo’s rules.
A major question is how much of the AI analysis will be made public. Would a criminal defense attorney defending a resisting arrest charge be entitled to access an officer’s stats? Typically, if a public employee is coached or given guidance, that information is not considered a public record. Personnel records only become public when an officer is disciplined, as established in Cowles Publishing Co. v. State Patrol (1988).
Who’s next in the criminal justice system for AI analysis? Would judges be open to having their proceedings assessed by AI? Given that most court hearings are already audio-recorded, it would seem relatively easy to implement. Judges exercise far more discretion than police officers, so the potential for AI to analyze judicial conduct could raise different ethical and legal questions.
What do you think? Add your comments below.
Security Cameras Pose New Challenge to Robbery Suspects
The expense of high quality video surveillance equipment has plummeted, and many businesses are installing sophisticated systems into their businesses. This is posing a challenge to robbery and burglary suspects. It seems like you cannot watch the news or go online without seeing photos or video footage of these guys caught in the act.
This youth apparently covered his head with his T-shirt before being caught by a security camera
But burglary and robbery suspects are finding new ways to cover their faces when they are on the job. I saw this photo to the left in the Olympian online yesterday that the police released with the hope of identifying him. For the latest Eastern Washington crime/court news, I visit the blog Sirens & Gavels. The stories in this blog by Meghann Cuniff usually include surveillance photos. I read the Spokesman-Review in print, but I check their online site for the audio/video content.
This photo depicts Terran D. Schatz, who plead guilt to second degree robbery. Schatz was an Iraq war veteran who apparently became addicted to oxycontin
I follow all the local oxycontin robberies, and have blogged about this in the past, see earlier post. The pattern that many of these robbers fit, is to try to cover as much of their face as possible without it seeming too suspicious. Obviously if a person walks into a pharmacy or business with a bandanna over their face then that will alert everyone as to their intentions. In my experience as a criminal defense attorney, some suspects keep these robberies as low-key as possible, simply presenting their demand to the counter in the form of a note. In Meghann Cuniff’s blog today, she posted surveillance footage of a failed armed robbery attempt by a man who allegedly walked into a pharmacy in Hayden with a gun to attempt to get oxycontin. The suspect left empty-handed because the pharmacy avoids keeping it in stock due to the rash of such robberies. Notice the suspect’s mannerisms as he walks into the store. He clearly is aware of the presence of the security camera, and would have likely visited the store in advance to observe the placement. The suspect casually covers his face with his hand, as if to suppress a cough, but drops his hand down after he passes the camera. His head is covered with a hood and hat.
Such surveillance videos pose a challenge to the investigator and attorneys handling such cases. The equipment is difficult to operate, and often times a store owner is not aware of how to duplicate the recording for the police. In metropolitan areas, specialized robbery or major crimes detectives are well practiced at handling such equipment, but in our more rural counties deputy sheriffs often struggle. As a defense attorney, I have dealt with armed robbery allegations cases where the video was replayed by the police to see, but was never copied for court or made available to the jury. Often times, when a copy is made the file is “compressed” reducing the quality of the video footage. “Compression” is the process by which a larger data file is reduced in size to more easily fit on a disk or flash drive. Video quality varies from camera to camera, but unlike on TV, it is rare that the video can be significantly enhanced. When I defended an armed robbery allegation in Okanogan County, I worked with an expert who used Photoflair to try to enhance the image, but it was not very successful. Photoflair has been used in a lot of high profile cases, and can be helpful, but it is not like on CSI. In the future, the police will not necessarily need to post the photo of a robbery suspect to solve the crime. Face recognition software already exists and came on my MacBook when I bought it. When I add photographs from my camera to my computer, the program recognizes the subjects of the photos and tags the photos accordingly. It is possible that someday the police could match a photo of a robbery suspect with other photographs the suspect has posted on social networking sites.
Having defended such cases and worked with oxycontin addicts, I grow frustrated with the manufacturer of oxycontin, Purdue Pharma. As I wrote in an earlier post, pharmaceutical company Purdue-Pharma invented and mass-marketed oxycontin. The company agreed that it committed a felony when it marketed oxycontin and hid how unsafe it was. The company faced 600 million in fines after it plead guilty, but the executives never went to jail. The company encouraged doctors to prescribe it not just to dying cancer patients, but to people with even moderate pain. Many addicts were thus created. According to a story in the New York Times, “…Purdue Pharma contended that OxyContin, because of its time-release formulation, posed a lower threat of abuse and addiction to patients than do traditional, shorter-acting painkillers like Percocet or Vicodin.” Less addictive then vicodin (i.e. hydrocodone)? Now that really makes me chuckle. Remember the above video of the robbery suspect who tried to rob the pharmacy but they did not stock oxycontin? He left empty handed. He didn’t ask for percocet or vicodin as an alternative. He knows there is no substitute or no pharmacy drug like oxycontin. It’s only equivalent is heroin.
The DEA has cut back on prescriptions for oxycontin, but you really can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Addicts will rob pharmacies rather then suffer the agony of withdrawal. Further steps are needed to limit oxycontin’s use.