2024 Body-Worn Camera Analysis Training Project

The Spokane (WA) Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) in partnership with its subrecipients Polis Solutions (“Polis”) and the National Policing Institute (“NPI”) proposes a demonstration project that will enable SCSO to integrate body-worn camera (BWC) video into its training programs and transform the agency’s ability to optimize the connection between deputies’ career-long learning process and their performance on the street. The project will have national implications for the entire law enforcement profession, and has been designed to provide replicable programs and policies.

To ensure that SCSO’s personnel are continuously trained to the highest standards, SCSO needs to make better and more efficient use of its BWC data. BWC video is SCSO’s largest source of data on deputy-community interactions. However, SCSO cannot use this data to its full potential without implementing new AI technology and the supporting infrastructure needed to integrate BWC data analysis into the agency’s training programs.

Subrecipient Polis uses independently validated multimodal AI technology called “TrustStat” to analyze BWC video and automatically identify key behaviors and language related to de-escalation, procedural justice, use of force, and other critical areas of deputy performance. In the demonstration project, SCSO will use TrustStat to analyze BWC data to evaluate effectiveness of deputies' training during three career learning phases: basic academy training, field training (FTO), and post-probation in-service training. This will be the first time a law enforcement agency has used BWC data from multiple career training phases to measure and optimize training effects. Subrecipient NPI will provide SCSO with essential technical support related to the integration of BWC analysis into training, and will also evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of the demonstration project. Contractor Christine Rickert of CRA Consulting LLC will play a key role in assisting with the development, implementation, and evaluation of the SCSO Training, Washington State Criminal Justice Basic Law Enforcement Academy curricula rewrite and facilitate the acquisition of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standard and Training (IADLEST) National Certification for the content that will be developed.

By collaborating with Polis, NPI, and an instructional systems designer and utilizing the TrustStat multimodal AI to analyze BWC video to evaluate training outcomes and associated behavioral changes, SCSO seeks to achieve the following objectives: (1.) increased positive community contacts; (2.) increased public trust; (3.) increased frequency and effectiveness of de-escalation efforts; and (4.) decrease in the frequency and severity of use of force.  

Key deliverables include: (1.) final report summarizing lessons learned with an emphasis on recommendations for agencies nationwide seeking to use BWC video in their training programs; (2.) Model policies and procedures for using BWC data to support training and training evaluation; (3.) Descriptive list of key behaviors and language detectable in BWC video and corresponding training and field performance skills; (4.) live and virtual educational events and presentations to report findings.