Police launch AI agent to answer non-emergency calls
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Colorado Springs residents who call police for non-emergencies will now reach S.A.R.A.H., an artificial intelligence bot.
Why it matters: The technology could free dispatchers to answer 911 emergency calls faster and make police services more accessible.
- Yes, but: It puts software on the frontline of deciding whether a caller's concern is routine or urgent.
Driving the news: The Colorado Springs Police Department announced this week that it launched an AI-assisted call-taker for its non-emergency number after testing the technology since April.
- The agency is paying police tech giant Axon $170,000 a year for the Service Assessment and Response Assistance Helper (S.A.R.A.H.) bot.
How it works: S.A.R.A.H. asks callers a series of questions and determines whether the request can be resolved automatically or needs a human call-taker.
- If the software detects violence, a disturbance or another potential emergency, it's trained to transfer.
- The AI also assists 911 dispatch employees with transcription, translation and summaries.
Between the lines: The Springs' 911 calls are answered in an average of 11 to 13 seconds, while non-emergency callers previously waited more than 30 seconds.
- Police say the AI has reduced the non-emergency wait to nearly zero.
The big picture: Non-emergency requests are about half the calls reaching the city's communications center.
- Police officials say residents sometimes call that number with questions unrelated to public safety — from requests for directions to inquiries about when a Denver Nuggets game starts.
The intrigue: The system expands CSPD's reliance on Axon. The department already uses its AI to draft police reports from body-camera recordings and cameras to read license plates.
What to watch: Whether the system actually reduces 911 wait times — and how often it misunderstands callers, misses urgent details or incorrectly transfers people in need.
- Communications center employees will monitor S.A.R.A.H.'s performance and retrain it as city services and community needs change.