The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that in 2018, there were 372 police personnel for every 100,000 residents. These officers, regardless of seniority or experience, undergo training many times during their careers to further improve the quality of service we receive. Every bit that can help matters, and maximizing benefits requires out-of-the-box thinking. For example, law enforcement transcription companies (already vital to enhancing productivity and minimizing paperwork burnout for law enforcement agencies) can be tapped to help support police training and documentation—as long as the transcription service is effective.
- Accurate and secure transcription is vital for law enforcement training and documentation, requiring services that comply with CJIS guidelines.
- AI tools lack the accuracy and nuanced understanding of human transcribers, making professional human transcription preferable for legal and sensitive law enforcement work.
- Law enforcement agencies should prioritize providers offering high accuracy, confidentiality, quick turnaround times, and adherence to security standards, ensuring effective support for police documentation and training.
The Professional Transcription Process For Law Enforcement Agencies
Before delving deeper into the benefits, let’s discuss the process first.
Transcription is the process of converting audio and video recordings into written text. The usual steps are:
- The client submits an audio or video recording via email or the transcription service provider’s secure platform.
- The transcription provider assigns the video or audio recording to a transcriber with the appropriate skills and experience.
- The transcriber listens to the recorded file word for word and transcribes all utterances if doing verbatim transcription. If doing a cleaned-up or edited transcription, the transcriber lightly touches the text for grammar corrections and removes filler words.
- The transcriber submits the transcript for proofreading, where two or more people individually check the work for accuracy, quality, and guideline implementation.
- The completed transcript is returned to the client via secured online platforms.
Note that CJIS security requirements must be observed at all steps of the transcription process.
How Transcription Supports Law Enforcement Training and Documentation
Here are the primary benefits of incorporating high-quality transcription in the training and documentation process for police departments and other law enforcement professionals.
| Benefit | Description |
| Enhanced Learning from Real Cases | Trainees can study real-life transcripts to understand communication nuances, legal language, and interrogation techniques. |
| Improved Communication Skills | Reviewing transcribed conversations helps trainees identify effective communication practices and common mistakes. |
| Scenario-Based Training | Transcripts of past incidents create scenario-based exercises to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. |
| Standardization of Training Material | Transcription allows for consistent access to standardized training materials across different groups and locations. |
| Documentation and Review | Provides a permanent record for assessing and improving training programs based on detailed reviews and covering sensitive information requirements. |
| Legal Compliance and Sensitivity Training | Trainees learn about legal compliance, proper procedures, and sensitivity in dealing with diverse communities, making them more effective during legal proceedings. |
| Language and Cultural Training | Transcripts from multicultural settings help train officers in understanding and respecting cultural differences. |
Future Trends in Transcription: Is AI the Answer For Police Departments?
Recording and transcription have classically been done by people who learned the trade through years of practice and improvements. With its impressive learning capability, AI should be able to replicate a human’s training quickly.
Yet, these programs still have issues transcribing to near-perfect accuracy. Latest tests show that AI can only transcribe audio files with 86% accuracy. What gives?
The answer is simple: human speech is difficult to understand.
Think back on the last time you talked to someone. Your conversation included verbal and nonverbal speech. Aside from that, there may have been hidden nuances in your talks—things that are not stated outright yet are communicated nonetheless.
Now, consider how you understood the levels of the conversation. Did you think through it logically, or did it… happen automatically?
Human speech is incredibly nuanced, and it takes us a long time to understand it instinctively.
Unfortunately, AI does not have an instinct. Therefore, it is at the mercy of the concepts we take for granted, like figures of speech, nuance, and contextual understanding.
So far, we haven’t found a way to train AI to recognize these things, not like the way we do. That’s why AI transcription suffers from inaccuracy.
Other Issues Law Enforcement Faces With AI Transcription
AI transcription also suffers from even more issues, such as:
| Concern | Description |
| Privacy Concerns | There are concerns about data privacy and security when using AI transcription services, especially if the data is stored or processed by third-party providers. |
| Costs | There are still costs associated with using AI tools, especially for high volumes of transcription or premium accuracy levels. |
| Lack of Human Touch | AI transcription lacks the human touch that manual transcription services can provide. Humans can understand nuances, accents, and context better than AI. |
| Technical Limitations | AI transcription systems may struggle with certain audio qualities, such as low-quality recordings, multiple speakers talking over each other, or background noise. |
| Training Bias | AI models are trained on data; if the training data is biased or unrepresentative, it can lead to biased transcriptions. Law enforcement work requires working with a wide range of individuals, so this is not ideal. |
| Limited Languages and Dialects | AI transcription might not support all languages or dialects equally well. Some languages or dialects may have fewer resources dedicated to training AI models. |
| Loss of Nuance | AI transcription might miss subtle nuances, emotions, or nonverbal cues present in human speech, which can be crucial for accurate transcription in certain contexts. |
| Dependency on Connectivity and Infrastructure | AI transcription services often require an internet connection and access to computing infrastructure, which can add to budget requirements or cut into law enforcement personnel resources. |
How to Choose The Best Law Enforcement Transcription Service
Choosing the right transcription service company for law enforcement agencies is not easy. However, certain guidelines and non-negotiable criteria can be used to determine if the company you choose is a good fit for your requirements.
Human Transcription
Outsourcing transcription tasks to humans should be the priority. Experienced law enforcement transcriptionists can transcribe spoken words with the accuracy that AI cannot match in its current form.
Furthermore, accurate documentation requires due process, chain of custody, and accountability. AI transcription software, even those touted to be “tailored for law enforcement,” cannot waltz into a courtroom and swear under oath that the police report it transcribed is accurate to the best of its ability.
Your audio and video recordings are safer in the hands of a professional transcription service provider that employs human transcribers.
Accuracy
Transcription can only support law enforcement training and documentation if effective and accurate. Transcription errors can negatively affect law enforcement officers, prosecution cases, and defendants’ lives. Choose a provider with 99% guaranteed accuracy rates and a solid, streamlined transcription process that ensures precision and quality control at every step.
Avoid service providers using automated transcription tools like artificial intelligence and speech recognition technology. Aside from being often inaccurate, prone to background noise issues, and may cause more issues than they fix, transcriptions created by AI are not admissible in court. Remember that efficiency and accuracy are tell-tale signs of a reliable company.
Confidentiality and Security
Information leaks can destroy credibility, mess with the criminal justice process, and potentially affect many lives.
The CJIS is the gold standard for criminal justice information security. Every vendor and provider with access to criminal justice information must meet their requirements. Otherwise, they expose themselves and their client agency to litigation and data breach penalties.
Always look for providers who offer stringent security measures that meet CJIS guidelines to ensure the security of every piece of data.
Other security features to watch out for include:
- Detailed Reporting and Tracking Features
- Individually Defined User Access Levels
- Individual User Names, Passwords, and PINs (immediate deactivation upon request)
- Scaled Network Redundancy
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) Integration
- Dedicated Data Centers
- Encrypting All Data With SSL 256-bit Encryption
- Employee Background Checks*
- Transcribers Must Be Willing To Sign A Non-Disclosure Agreement
Pricing
Outsourcing your transcription needs can save your agency more than $100,000 a year per transcriber in salaries, benefits, and other incidentals that come with regular employment. You no longer need to worry about equipment, staffing and scheduling, training, or scaling—the provider will worry about that for you.
Of course, that would only mean something if the transcription provider you chose is worth the money.
Beware of services with unrealistically low transcription service rates. Those companies are often offshore, using foreign transcriptionists who cannot certify their transcripts, thus making them inadmissible in court. High transcription prices, on the other hand, decrease cost-effectiveness.
Look for cost-effective and affordable companies that are 100% transparent with their prices.
Turnaround Time
When looking for a transcription provider, key considerations include getting your transcripts as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy and quality.
Always look for a provider that can deliver on its promises of fast turnaround times. Typical transcript deliveries take three to five business days, while rush jobs can be done within 24 to 48 hours. Having more economical options is a big plus.
Expertise
US-based professional transcriptionists trained in legal transcription better understand legalese, redaction rules, hearing formats, and other nuances only someone in the United States will understand.
They are also more familiar with American legal processes and law enforcement practices and can provide more accurate transcription. Check credentials, sample work, testimonials, and company longevity. Law enforcement transcription can often overlap with legal or medical transcription, so it’s best to find a company that caters to all industries.
Coverage and Complementary Services
Look for law enforcement transcription providers that support complementary services like timestamps, translation, and subtitling. One-stop access increases convenience and continuity. It’s also advisable to check if the provider handles different audio and video file formats so you won’t experience headaches converting them.
Lastly, check if your chosen provider offers different document file formats. Outsourcing transcription only to find that they can’t send you the transcripts in your preferred document format is a waste of time and resources.
Ditto’s Transcription Services For Law Enforcement Checks All The Boxes
Effective transcription services support law enforcement training and documentation—there’s no question about it. Police officers can maximize the benefits by enlisting the help of expert transcribers like Ditto. We offer everything discussed and more.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Call us to sign up for our free trial and experience first-hand why we’re the best in the industry.
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based, CJIS-compliant law enforcement transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for law enforcement departments and agencies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.
