As police departments increasingly rely on artificial intelligence, the biggest challenge remains maintaining «transparency». The more the justice system depends on algorithms, the greater the need to ensure these tools serve the law, rather than replacing constitutional guarantees.
Sean Kees, chief of police in Anchorage, told Axios: «There are cases that are simply being excluded because we don't have the human capacity to handle them». Kees adds that AI is now helping to reopen «cold cases» (crimes or incidents that have not been fully solved) and missing persons cases among Alaska Natives, allowing new investigators to absorb massive case files dating back decades in hours instead of weeks.
These systems act as an intelligent assistant that performs the following functions: • Transcription: Converting audio recordings and interviews into searchable written text. • Real-time translation: Analyzing evidence in foreign languages or indigenous languages and translating it for investigators. • Pattern analysis: Providing alternative theories and suspects based on data intersection.
Aaron Zellinger, CEO of Closure, describes this technology by saying: «We are building an army of Watsons to serve investigators who are Sherlock Holmeses; the goal is not to automate the decision, but to shed light on what humans miss».
Despite these successes, civil liberties organizations like the ACLU are raising a warning flag, pointing to serious concerns about «algorithmic bias» and privacy violations in the use of AI in criminal justice.
Today's police challenges are no longer about a lack of evidence, but about its «overload». Investigators are drowning in a sea of digital data and recordings that could take years to decipher.
This is where AI is beginning to redraw the map of investigative work, turning weeks of grueling searches into just a few hours of intelligent analysis.
According to Axios, after the first wave of AI technologies focused on «the street» (such as drones and license plate readers), a «second wave» has emerged targeting investigative offices.
Startups like Closure and Longeye are equipping police with tools capable of sifting through thousands of hours of jail calls, interviews, social media posts, and old case photos to find crime threads buried under a mountain of data.
Speeding up justice in Anchorage In Anchorage, Alaska, the police department has adopted the Closure tool under a $375,000 contract.
