By: Leila Mitchell
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger part of law enforcement nationwide. National studies show more than 90 percent of agencies want to adopt AI to improve analytics, productivity, and decision-making.
That includes systems designed to save officers time, especially on paperwork.
“Where we are really seeing a lot of early success and interest is being able to help deliver some efficiency for some of the administrative tasks that our law enforcement professionals have to complete every day,” said Wendy Gilbert, Senior Vice President of Product with Mark43.But here locally, police say they’re taking a more cautious approach.
Instead of using AI directly, departments like Roanoke and Lynchburg rely on software that incorporates AI-driven technology.
In Roanoke, police use Flock Safety cameras, a system that helps investigators search for vehicles connected to crimes.
“So when we put in a search for a specific type of car or specific license plate, the Flock technology then goes through their system and pulls any hits that match that description,” said Hannah Glasgow, Public Information Officer with Roanoke Police.
In Lynchburg, police use a platform called Fusus. With permission, it can tap into security cameras across the city and uses AI-powered detection software to read license plates.
As Lynchburg continues advancing its real-time crime center, leaders say AI may eventually play a larger role, but for now, it’s not the primary focus.
“It is something that we are looking into, and we may have elements that use it, but it is not one of our primary driving investigative tools right now,” said Kathleen Jennings, Community Engagement Specialist, with Lynchburg Police Department.
But even with advanced technology, police stress the human element remains critical.
“When we do get all of those hits back, it is then up to our detectives and our personnel to still verify that information is correct,” said Glasgow.
Both Roanoke and Lynchburg police say conversations around AI are ongoing, including how and if it could become part of daily police work in the future.
WDBJ7 reached out to our local Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce, which says it does use AI that can review large amounts of data and summarize them, translate foreign languages, and even help quickly review batches of image or video files to highlight ones most likely to depict child exploitation material.
However, everything is then reviewed and verified by a human.
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Original Story: https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/01/07/growing-role-ai-local-law-enforcement/
