Law enforcement agencies today are operating in an environment defined by growing complexity. Communities expect faster response times, greater transparency, and more effective crime prevention. In many jurisdictions, agencies need to make all these improvements while they contend with limited staffing and constrained budgets. Technology has become a critical force multiplier in meeting these goals.
Artificial intelligence (AI), drones, and license plate readers (LPRs) are among the tools reshaping how agencies approach public safety. Used responsibly, these technologies help officers make better decisions, expand situational awareness, and focus human judgment where it matters most.
Artificial Intelligence, Real Results
Law enforcement is using AI in a number of ways to increase operational efficiency and improve planning and decision-making.
- Automating manual tasks like report review, evidence tagging, and data entry frees officers to spend more time on community engagement and investigative work.
- Organizing data including reports, video, digital evidence, and sensor data can expedite discovery of patterns and connections.
- Providing real-time situational awareness with interpretation of video feeds, drone footage, and sensor data can inform officers of the environment before they enter it.
- Making predictive suggestions, including route planning and threat detection, support risk-assessment for the most effective response.
In practice, this reduction of administrative workload means that AI tools can streamline 911 call intake, verification, and coordination. This includes the use of real-time transcription and translation to help address language barriers, which can add an average of 70 seconds to emergency calls. In the field, AI can help draft reports from notes, video, and pictures, then offer these drafts for officers' review and use, speeding up the reporting process.
Beyond operational use, AI can empower predictive policing, stopping crimes before they happen. AI is helping agencies make use of open-source intelligence, such as publicly available information from social profiles and open chats. Monitoring public conversations and physical activity helps law enforcement identify trafficking, fraud, and public safety threats (including plans for mass shootings), among other crimes.
Expanded Drone Use
Drones give law enforcement agencies a fast, flexible way to see more, respond more strategically, and keep people safer. Drones are cost-effective when compared to helicopters or ground reconnaissance and can cover hard-to-reach or dangerous areas. Used responsibly, they improve situational awareness, speed response times, and enhance overall public safety while reducing risk to officers on the ground. Specifically, drones can help with:
- Improved disaster response by surveying areas impacted by natural disasters before, during, and after an event. These drones feed information back to teams in real time, improving their ability to plan before heading into dangerous conditions.
- Safer working conditions by surveying dangerous environments to assess risk.
- More responsive services via the "drone-in-a-box" approach, where they are positioned on rooftops throughout the city, ready to fly on a moment's notice to carry EpiPens or defibrillators and deliver them faster than a ground-response unit. Drones could also capture data about the scene and relay it to first responders, so they are better prepared when they arrive.
The Patterson, NJ, police department recently expanded their drone program as part of a real-time operations center launch. Previously, drones were limited to the Emergency Response Team. They are now available to multiple units for use on search-and-rescue missions, active investigations, and large-scale incidents. In fact, police said drones also improve crash and crime scene documentation by allowing investigators to capture overhead images and create detailed 3D maps.
Balancing the Benefits of License Plate Readers
Not all technology has been enthusiastically accepted. License plate reader (LPR) technology helps law enforcement agencies quickly identify vehicles of interest and can help locate stolen vehicles, missing persons, and suspects in real time. It also supports investigations by providing valuable leads on vehicle movements, reducing the need for manual plate checks. However, concerns have been repeatedly raised regarding the way this technology may give rise to privacy violations.
A number of states and localities have introduced legislation to regulate the use of LPR technology.
- California governor Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would have tightened rules on how police in the state use automated license plate readers. He felt the regulations would impede criminal investigations. The law was proposed after reports came out that police were misusing the data, with one report saying that officers violated a state law against sharing the data with federal authorities and others outside the state--and did this more than 100 times. The proposed legislation would have required police to better document their searches and delete some of their data within two months.
- A diverse set of states including Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Washington have enacted laws that protect the personal data collected through license plate readers from being shared with entities outside of the local police force.
LPR technology has been fielded much longer than AI or drones. It will be interesting to see if similar regulations begin to be implemented in response to the continuing use of today's emerging technologies.
To learn more about how law enforcement is using technology to support safer outcomes for officers and the communities they serve, check out these resources:
- Seconds Matter: Real-Time AI for Public Safety and Emergency Response (March 4, 2026; webcast) - Cities are deploying more cameras, sensors, and AI than ever before--yet many still struggle to convert detections into timely, coordinated action. Alerts fire, dashboards light up, and video is captured, but responses remain manual, fragmented, and slow. This webinar will walk through a live smart-city system that demonstrates how AI, edge computing, and real-time orchestration come together as a single operational solution.
- IACP Technology Conference 2026 (May 19-21, 2026; Fort Worth, TX) - This event provides training, professional development, and a national forum for police executives, operational managers, and technology and research staff to share leading practices and lessons learned on a broad array of new and emerging technologies.
- Operational Readiness 2026: Tech Strategies for Large-Scale Security Challenges (May 14, 2026; Washington, DC) - Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies will face an unprecedented and ongoing wave of high-profile events that will test the limits of public safety efforts. This conference provides a vital platform to explore how emerging technologies can significantly improve law enforcement readiness and response to this unique threat environment.
- Evolution of Law Enforcement: Powered by Technology (white paper) - Law enforcement agencies are facing a tough balancing act, too few resources, too much data, and rapid technological change. While staffing shortages persist, AI-powered tools are helping agencies streamline operations, allowing officers to focus more on policing than paperwork. However, the influx of digital tools has also introduced challenges, including data overload and cybersecurity concerns. To address these issues, law enforcement organizations are adopting AI-driven automation, cloud solutions, and integrated digital platforms to improve efficiency, compliance, and proactive crime prevention.
- The City of New Orleans Transforms Their Emergency Response with Real-Time Visibility (white paper) - The New Orleans Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS) department relies on a large fleet of ambulances, sprint cars, bicycles, and other vehicles to respond to nearly 70,000 emergency calls every year, as well as provide services during high-profile events like Mardi Gras. However, a lack of real-time visibility into their vehicles and assets made it difficult for NOEMS to coordinate emergency response as safely and effectively as possible.
- Building Our Autonomous Future (white paper) - Autonomous robotics are rapidly reshaping government missions, from disaster response to infrastructure inspection. Drones and robots enhance safety by entering hazardous environments, improve efficiency by automating inspections, and deliver real-time data for faster decision-making. Yet widespread adoption depends on overcoming regulatory hurdles, scaling secure U.S.-made technology, and retraining the workforce to maximize data-driven insights.
For more on law enforcement technology, search for additional events and resources on GovEvents and GovWhitePapers.
