New AI chatbot helps public lodge clearer police reports to save time

The police will be launching an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to help members of the public lodge clearer and more specific police reports to save time.

- David Sun

The Report Lodging Co-Pilot (R-Cop) is a system run by AI that will be available by Oct 1 at nine of the self-help kiosks situated across the seven police division headquarters.

The Woodlands Division Headquarters will have three R-Cop kiosks.

The other six division headquarters - Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Central, Clementi, Jurong and Tanglin - will each have one kiosk with R-Cop available.

Members of the public can log in with Singpass at the kiosks, and have the option to use R-Cop to file a report or do so digitally without using the chatbot.

If they choose not to use R-Cop, they will be asked to provide a description of the incident or the offence they are reporting.

The system will then prompt them only for basic information, but this might result in them leaving out essential details such as phone numbers.

Investigation officers may then have to make followup calls for more information, taking up additional time of both the public and the police.

With R-Cop, the description is analysed by AI to identify the type of incident and what crucial or useful information might be missing.

The chatbot then prompts the person for the relevant details.