Our Mission

“To advance policing’s responsible use of artificial intelligence”

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded. While the understanding of its potential – both beneficial and harmful – is growing rapidly, the speed at which it is becoming inextricably intertwined with literally every aspect of our lives is far outpacing the development of appropriate safeguards for its use. This is especially true in public safety. Policing leaders and developers of policing technology alike envision tremendous gains in efficiency, effectiveness and profit to be gained from police-centric AI tools. But police leaders and public policymakers would be well served in considering this sage advice as they consider the implications of AI in policing: “Just because we can do it, doesn’t mean we should.”

The Future Policing Institute’s Center for Policing and Artificial Intelligence (COP-AI) was created as a unique place for police leaders, policymakers, community members, researchers and developers of AI technologies to find on-going discussions about the benefits and risks of employing AI in policing. It is also intended to provide a variety of resources to assist them in their quest to understand the implications of AI in their pursuit of its benefits and avoidance of its risks.

The members of the Institute believe that the wide breadth of AI implications for policing – and the people the police are paid to protect – is so great that the creation of a center devoted entirely to the responsible use of AI by the police is a requisite to advancing effective, empathetic and just policing. And finally, this Center is entirely consistent with the Institute’s overall mission and the understanding of future opportunities and challenges policing will soon face.