The Vancouver City Council voted Oct. 27 to continue using its current police report-writing and records platform on a year-to-year basis after brief discussion about functionality and future AI features.

Councilor Fox asked for an update on how the system has performed and whether it supports new features such as AI-assisted report writing. "We really haven't heard an update on the system other than the staff report," Fox said, adding that switching platforms would be difficult.

The police chief said the software is the department's report-writing tool and the platform the department uses to report crime statistics to the FBI. The chief said the system "has worked for us, primarily," but acknowledged it has not been perfect and that migration to a different platform is a lengthy, arduous process. He said the city is staying on a one-year contracting schedule because the vendor does not offer discounts for multi-year agreements.

When asked whether the vendor currently supports AI-assisted report writing, the chief said, "In its current form, no. And we don't have anything from the vendor right now indicating that that's something that would be available to us on the short horizon."

Councilor Kelsey and another councilor related an experience with a different vendor's AI demonstration that inserted judgmental language into narratives. "It made judgments about the words that I used," one councilor said, arguing the city should be cautious about AI tools that could insert bias into reports.

A motion to approve item 2 was made by Councilor Fox and seconded by Councilor Perez; the motion passed.

The record on the vendor's multi-year terms and any timeline for AI features remains "not specified" in the staff report; the chief said staff will continue to monitor available platforms and keep the council informed.