"Anything that is going to make us more efficient, a little more accurate and keep lines open is probably worth the investment," Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said.
The system is headed by Prepared AI in partnership with Axon, the company that manufactures police body cameras, in an effort to reduce the amount of calls dispatchers must take at any given time. The model is starting to make waves in dispatch agencies across the country, such as in Baltimore, according to Axon's website.
Prepared AI launched in 2021 and is expected to be implemented in Spokane County at the end of the year following six weeks of preparation.
Currently, county dispatchers are answering both 911 and Crime Check calls.
The AI model would tweak that by connecting Crime Check callers with the right services, or taking the initial call about an abandoned car or traffic violation. It can also analyze both English and Spanish and translate it, according to Axon's website. The AI system is able to provide a summary of the call that can later be reviewed by a dispatcher or supervisor.
The system will not be used for 911 calls and life-threatening emergencies, however, said Spokane Regional Emergency Communications spokesperson Kelly Conley. Dispatchers will be prioritizing those themselves.
Crime Check receives more than 250,000 calls each year and nearly half of those calls don't involve a crime, according to regional system data.
Approximately 28% of total calls are general questions, requests for reports or other questions that have to be deferred to a separate agency. People have used Crime Check to call for information about jury duty before, Conley said, which is an example of a call where AI likely would be used.
"Calls are increasing year over year and they're also more complex, so our receivers might need to spend more time on a call," Conley said, adding that when the Gray and Oregon Road Fires erupted in Spokane County, callers rang 911 nonstop.
Dispatchers needed to spend more time on those affected by the fires, and nonemergent calls had to wait.
Around 54% of callers that dial into Crime Check are actually experiencing an emergency. In that situation, a dispatcher would normally assess the call and decide whether to send out first responders.
With the use of AI, the tool would assess the call and redirect the person to a dispatcher, who is trained to handle the complexity of an emergency.
In an example phone call provided by SREC, the AI bot asks the person "How can I help you?"
The person responds, "Missing person."
The AI bot then asks from where the person has been reported missing and redirects the caller to a person who will take the report.
That's a part of the dispatch system that will stay the same — communications officers will still take and write reports, about which Nowels was initially concerned. He believed that AI would be writing reports, which made him nervous due to potential AI error, but was put at ease knowing that wasn't the case.
"I was skeptical at first, but they proved to me it was accurate," said Nowels, a board member of Spokane Regional Emergency Communications. "My ideas of what AI is capable of has changed."
While the product deputies receive from Crime Check is critically important to the sheriff's office, their operations will remain unaffected, Nowels added.
According to Conley, the investment into the AI system will cost the county $95,000 per year under a two year contract. The system will be tested on Wednesday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., a news release from the agency said.
"Our goal has always been to provide the highest level of service to the people who call us for help," Spokane Regional Emergency Communications Deputy Director Kim Arredondo said. "By integrating automated triage into the Crime Check line, we're ensuring that callers get routed to the right resources quickly while preserving our 911 lines for life-threatening emergencies."
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