Studies show that police officers can spend up to 40% of their time writing police reports—time that could be spent in the community, responding to urgent calls, or avoiding overtime. This is a major challenge, especially as agencies face staffing shortages and rising demands. While agencies focus on hiring and retention, filling open roles remains difficult. The shortage leads to longer response times and more overtime, increasing burnout and taxpayer costs.

Launched last April, Draft One is a groundbreaking software that drafts a high-quality initial police report narrative in seconds using auto-transcribed body-worn camera audio. Powered by Generative AI, it includes critical safeguards, requiring every report to be reviewed and approved by an officer to ensure accuracy and accountability before submission. Ultimately, Draft One helps officers reclaim time to better serve their communities.

Lafayette, Indiana Police Department was an early access trial partner, and praise was immediate. “You join this job to make an impact, not to type reports. So this AI feature, I’m super excited about it,” says Lafayette Police Chief Scott Galloway.

Galloway’s enthusiasm is echoed by his officers. Officer Nathan Stoneking recalls his first experience using Draft One: “That’s probably a 25 to 30 minute long report, and you hit the narrative button and it cranks something out in a few seconds,” says Stoneking. “There’s a plethora of things that you can do with that extra hour or two hours in a 12 hour period.”

Since its introduction, multiple agencies have trialed and adopted Draft One, consistently reporting time savings on report writing. Users complete a survey to provide feedback, including noting if time was saved. To date, Draft One has contributed to over 100,000 incident reports and saved officers 2.2 million minutes—that's almost 4 years of writing reports 24/7.

Beyond the survey, some agencies are conducting independent studies and sharing results on time savings:

• 67% time savings – “That is 67% of time the officer is getting back to go out into the community, do things they enjoy, and engage with citizens.” – Fort Collins Police Department

• 61% reduction in report-writing time over a 90-day trial – Reports that took an average of 24.6 minutes manually were reduced to 9.46 minutes using Draft One, saving an estimated 1,285.75 hours annually. – Leon County Sheriff’s Office

• 50% reduction in report-writing time – Campbell Police Department

• 30 minutes saved per report for the 26 officers using Draft One – Boulder Police Department

• 418.53 hours saved over three months in a trial conducted by Fairfax County Police Department

Officers are able to use the time saved to re-engage with their communities and focus on other key work for their agency. Others are benefiting personally—getting home on time, reducing stress, and having more time for family or hobbies. In Campbell, California, an officer was able to complete a missing person’s report in minutes instead of nearly an hour, ensuring a faster response from detectives. Across agencies, Draft One is not just improving efficiency—it’s giving officers back valuable time when lower staffed agencies need it most.

It’s probably one of the biggest, exciting changes in technology in policing that I have seen since I started.

- Chief Redfearn, Boulder, Colorado Police Department

We continue to welcome feedback on Draft One—not just on time savings, but also benefits like higher-quality reports. Your input helps us enhance Draft One to better serve agencies and make Draft One even more useful and helpful over time.

If you are interested in learning more about Draft One, head on over to https://www.axon.com/products/draft-one.