GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WBAY) -An AI-powered app reported a shooting in Grand Chute on Nov. 4 that police say never happened.
A dispatcher sent an officer to an abandoned vehicle at Fleet Farm, 3035 W. Wisconsin Ave., just before 1 p.m. An app called CrimeRadar reported something different: a possible shooting in the Fleet Farm parking lot.
Cpl. Dylan Davis of the Grand Chute Police Department said the app “misinterpreted an officer getting dispatched to an abandoned vehicle complaint at that location to a shooting.” He said police do not know exactly how the error happened.
“It is frustrating because we use our social media platforms to share information with our followers, with our community,” Davis said. “There are so many false reports that are made about these critical incidents; we want to make sure that in the event of a critical incident happening or a severe, significant incident happening in Grand Chute, that we can get that information out to the public.”
Davis said the department learned of the report through social media and multiple phone calls, including from the business. He said police told callers the incident was inaccurate.
He said it took about two hours for police to become aware of the report and post a correction. By then, screenshots were already being shared.
“Social media is really fast; people get information out there in a matter of seconds, whether it’s factual or not,” Davis said.
Davis said apps like this one can get access to public safety radio communications and use AI to turn what they hear into text. He said the apps pick up dispatch channels for law enforcement, fire and EMS, as well as channels the department uses for training and day-to-day communications.
Davis said dispatchers and officers have different dialects and speech patterns.
“We’re noticing that AI is misinterpreting some things that people say,” he said. He said the app takes keywords such as shooting, drugs, or medical and creates a call from them, even when the dispatcher did not say anything related to that.
He worries repeated false reports could cause people to question real emergency alerts.
“We don’t want this AI app causing people to become immune to these reports because we want to be able to share when major incidents are happening in our community and share that safety information,” he said.
Davis said the department is not affiliated with the apps. He said the incident led the department to create policies on artificial intelligence.
Police said the incident is a reminder to verify what people see online before sharing it. They encourage people to follow official department channels for accurate, up-to-date information.
Davis said people with questions can call the department. “We may not be able to share exact locations or what’s going on, but we can confirm or deny whether something is going on,” he said. “Don’t just rely on that AI transcription of the radio. Click and play and listen through the radio transcriptions.”
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