MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Waco police warn residents to verify AI-generated crime alerts after a false report about an officer shooting turned out to be a training exercise.
- Waco police are warning residents to be cautious of AI-generated crime alerts after a false report spread through a crime reporting app
- An app merged back-channel and main-channel police scanner traffic, generating an AI report that falsely indicated an officer was injured in a shooting — which was actually a training exercise
- Retired police lieutenant Randy Sutton and Waco PD spokesperson Cierra Shipley both emphasized that AI-generated information is not always accurate and must be verified before being shared or acted upon
- Waco PD encourages residents to verify any AI-generated alerts directly through the department or a local news source, and urges caution when using crime reporting apps that rely on AI
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Waco police are warning residents to be cautious of AI-generated crime alerts after a false report spread through a crime reporting app.
Many people today get their news from social media feeds and news apps. But the Waco Police Department is urging the public to look out for AI-generated content warnings on those platforms.
A crime report app recently took police scanner traffic and used artificial intelligence to process and report it to the public. The AI-generated report incorrectly indicated an officer was injured in a shooting — but the incident was actually a Waco PD training exercise, not a real threat to the community.
Waco PD Public Information Officer Cierra Shipley said the technology behind these apps can produce inaccurate results.
"A lot of times those programs may be inaccurate," Shipley said.
Shipley explained how the false report was generated.
"There was an app that decided to take that back channel traffic, merge it with our main channel traffic, and it came out as an officer was injured in a shooting," Shipley said.
She described how the AI mishandles the audio it processes.
"It takes that audio, it doesn't realize what it's taking, it merges information and then incorrect information is put out there," Shipley said.
Retired police lieutenant and Founder of The Wounded Blue Randy Sutton said scanner traffic is always a first report and must be investigated before being broadcast.
"And some, oftentimes, the information that comes out originally on the scanner is not accurate information. So you have to look at all that information that's being generated from AI is not 100% and has to be vetted," Sutton said.
Waco PD says residents who want to determine whether an AI-generated report is fact or fiction can verify information directly through the department or through a local news source.
Shipley said the department is committed to keeping the community informed when there is a genuine threat.
"The Waco Police Department has and always will share information with our community if there is a danger to the public, if there is a caution or an advisory that we need to share with the community, we always will," Shipley said.
Waco PD is not telling residents to stop using crime reporting apps, but is urging them to remain cautious when alerts are identified as AI-generated.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
