ALAMEDA, Calif. (KRON) – Building trust in police by analyzing the language used during community engagement – That is what new technology aims to do for officers in an East Bay city.
Conversations between officers and the public in the city of Alameda will soon be analyzed using a new body-worn camera audio technology platform that can flag at-risk behavior.
“We have the opportunity to de-escalate any type of situation, by the way, we communicate with others. I am excited that we are going to be the first in California to have this technology,” Chief Nishant Joshi said.
Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi has only been on the job for six months and made acquiring the at-risk language detection system one of his top priorities. He explained how it works.
“This technology points directly to sentiment within the conversation. It identifies good interactions and it identifies at-risk interactions. We can also put in there, we want to know every time our officer says a phrase something like, is there anything else I can do to support you,” Chief Joshi said.
Chief Joshi says the goal is to use the audio analyzing technology as a training tool to highlight excellent police service and point out any potential behavioral issues that should not be modeled by his officers when interacting with the public.
“But most importantly it is a way to show the public that we are committed to transparency. We are committed to being accountable and we are committed to being progressive,” Chief Joshi said.
The Alameda PD body camera audio analytics system will go into effect on New Year’s Day 2022.