Cass County sheriff wants to join F-M police in using AI to help officers write reports from camera footage

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum By April Baumgarten Today at 5:01 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? FARGO — The Cass County Sheriff’s Office wants artificial intelligence software that will help officers write incident reports based on camera footage, but elected officials are concerned about the nearly $1 million annual price tag that comes with it. The Cass County Commission postponed a vote on Monday, Nov. 2, to approve a 10-year contract with Axon that would cost $9.6 million. In a 3-2 vote, the commission will wait for financial forecasting before agreeing to the contract. A decision is expected later this month. ADVERTISEMENT “I agree you need it. It’s something that is vastly needed,” County Commissioner Jim Kapitan said. “It’s the dollar signs that I struggle with.” Axon is a technology company that has supplied body and dash cameras, as well as weapons like Tasers, to law enforcement agencies for nearly three decades. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has used Axon since 2021. If approved, the new contract would start in 2028. A long-term contract that locks in prices and prevents annual cost increases is rare, Cass County Information Director Bob Henderson said. David Samson / The Forum The contract would include Draft One, software that generates reports from body-worn and in-vehicle cameras, assists in reviewing evidence and makes video redaction for open records requests more efficient, Henderson said. Without Draft One, the annual cost for the Axon contract would be $633,250, Henderson said. Officers who use the software to generate reports will have to review and approve the reports to ensure accuracy, he said. Supervisors also will give final approval, he said. “Their system does not take away choices,” he said. “It does not come to conclusions. It does not make any decisions.” ADVERTISEMENT Writing reports takes a lot of time, and the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for patrolling a large area, Sheriff Jesse Jahner said. Cass County contains 1,768 square miles of Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, plus a number of cities that don’t have police departments, he said. “Being able to have our resources on the street as opposed to driving to the office and doing reports and stuff is going to be an efficient thing for us,” he said. Officers will have to sign an affidavit and attest they read the report, Jahner said. He noted reports will have "catch phrases," or words that don't belong in the report. Deputies who read the report should be able to find the out-of-place words and delete them from the report before turning the reports in to supervisors for final review, he said. Officer who don't review the reports and lie about it will be deemed unreliable witnesses in court, Jahner said. That would result in those officers being fired, he said. Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum The technology is meant to help deputies save time on the “drudgery” of desk work, giving them more capabilities to patrol the county, Henderson said. The county has 68 patrol officers. The AI software could conservatively save each officer two hours a week on paperwork, he said. ADVERTISEMENT That would equal 7,072 hours a year, or $340,022 annually, Henderson estimated. The contract presents a large number that could concern taxpayers, but the savings will cover most, if not all, the increase, Henderson said. The Sheriff’s Office spent $481,000 in overtime last year, Henderson said. Draft One won’t eliminate overtime, but it should give deputies time for other operational work and ease understaffing, he said. Subscribers Only West Fargo Where are the Flock cameras? Fargo and West Fargo police won't say Fargo and West Fargo are not disclosing the locations of the devices. Minnesota requires law enforcement agencies to make the addresses public. Oct 3 · By April Baumgarten “It is not our silver-bullet solution, but it is a tool that helps make sure every minute that we are paying our staff, we’re trying to pay for the highest efficiency we can for the most important things they are doing,” he said. The upgrade will also provide unlimited video storage for the Sheriff’s Office, Henderson said. He is not advocating for staff cuts because of the technology. The upgrade allows the equivalent of 3.4 more full-time employees in the field, Henderson said in noting residents want to see more officers on the streets. “This is not a way to reduce headcount,” he said. “This is a way to better utilize the headcount that we have for what I believe is what I like to call serving justice out in our communities.” ADVERTISEMENT F-M police using Draft One Law enforcement agencies are using the technology, Jahner said. Fargo approved a $13.4 million contract for 10 years in late 2025 that included Draft One. The Fargo Police Department started using it in July, police spokeswoman Chelsey Stoa said. The generated reports are a starting point for officers, Stoa said. They improve efficiency while reducing time spent on administrative tasks, she said. “This allows officers to spend more time responding to calls, conducting investigations and serving the community," she said. "Draft One is a tool that supports report writing and accuracy; it does not replace officer judgment, investigation or accountability.” Moorhead began using Draft One in April, Moorhead Police Chief Chris Helmick said. The agency has a five-year contract that goes through 2030, with an annual cost of $384,000. The department has generated 1,700 reports using the technology, he said, adding he estimated it saved officers 560 hours to date. The software reduces workload so officers can spend more time with other duties, such as community engagement, Helmick said. It doesn’t replace the officer’s responsibility of making sure reports are accurate and thorough, he said. ADVERTISEMENT “For each report, officers are required to review, edit and verify all information before submitting the final version,” he said. “There are also safeguards built into the system to ensure reports are reviewed.” READ MORE LOCAL NEWS West Fargo police chief says Axon technology will replace Flock, bring new AI features 3h ago Predatory offender registers Moorhead address 1d ago Moorhead woman transported to hospital after collision with deer 1d ago The West Fargo City Commission gave its police department authority last week to negotiate and finalize a 10-year contract with Axon that will include Draft One. That contract, which will be presented to the City Commission at a later date, is estimated to cost $6.2 million, according to West Fargo Police Chief Pete Nielsen. The technology won’t replace an officer’s judgment, Nielsen said. Like Fargo and Moorhead, officers must review and approve the reports, along with supervisors, he said. The software will help write more consistent and accurate reports while saving time, he said. The technology is a tool, not a requirement, for writing reports, Helmick said. Some reports are better suited for “traditional report-writing methods,” Helmick said. His department worked with city and Clay County prosecutors to ensure they were comfortable with officers using the AI software, Helmick said. “While Draft One is a valuable efficiency tool, I would hesitate to characterize it as a replacement for full-time personnel,” he said. “It helps reduce administrative work, but it cannot replace the judgment, decision-making and community engagement performed by sworn law enforcement officers." Forum reporter Sav Kelly contributed to this report. ADVERTISEMENT READ MORE NORTH DAKOTA NEWS Voters in 2 North Dakota counties reject property tax increases 17h ago North Dakota traffic victims to be remembered 1d ago North Dakota's Pembina Gorge State Park comple