By Libor JanyLos Angeles TimesLOS ANGELES — Researchers will use artificial intelligence to analyze the tone and word choice that LAPD officers use during traffic stops, the department announced Tuesday, part of a broader study of whether police language sometimes unnecessarily escalates public encounters. The department does review footage, mostly from incidents in which officers use force or after a personnel complaint has been filed. Under LAPD policy, aggressive or profane language is banned, and the department says it doesn’t recognize so-called “tactical language,” to get compliance from uncooperative suspects. The USC study comes on the heels of similar efforts by researchers at Stanford and the University of Michigan. Michigan researchers played audio recordings from hundreds of routine traffic stops for participants, who were asked to rate officers’ interactions with motorists, whose race wasn’t revealed.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 23, 2023 15:19 UTC