Phoenix Police to begin using AI to help handle calls to nonemergency line

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department will begin to use artificial intelligence to alleviate pressure on dispatchers.

Wait times for the nonemergency line can be upwards of two hours at times, according to Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien.

She told KTAR News 92.3 FM she heard from concerned residents at a community meeting who told her they’d just give up because it took too long to report a nonemergency problem.

O’Brien discovered that 911 operators are also responsible for answering the nonemergency line and started to look for a solution.

What was O’Brien’s solution to alleviate nonemergency line pressure and wait times?

She found an AI company used in Portland, Oregon, to direct nonemergency calls.

“They were handling 24,000 nonemergency calls a month for Portland,” O’Brien said.

Phoenix already contracts with the Canadian software company Versaterm and the police department will begin using its AI program CallTriage to direct nonemergency calls starting Wednesday.

It starts by asking you a series of questions to determine how to direct your call and if you may need an emergency operator. The AI system can speak 36 languages. But if you prefer to speak with a human over AI, it will also give you that option.

The Phoenix Police Department gets more than 500,000 nonemergency call a year.

The nonemergency line can be reached at 602-262-6151 to report a noise complaint, parking issue or concern about the community that doesn’t require an immediate response.

“A nonemergency is something like getting to report graffiti or maybe somebody suspicious in the neighborhood,” O’Brien said.

Phoenix 911 dispatchers are looking forward to using the new AI system for nonemergency calls because it will ease some of the pressure they face in a high-stress, high burn out career.

O’Brien said it will allow operators to focus on real emergencies and give community members a new avenue to report concerns.

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