Your Agency’s Video Platform Strategy: Where Does AI Fit In?

Video is now central to how modern law enforcement documents incidents, protects officers, and maintains public trust. As the volume of video increases, the challenge of managing that data increases with it. Many agencies are wondering if artificial intelligence may provide an affordable and efficient long-term digital evidence strategy. 

The right AI tools can reduce administrative burdens, accelerate investigations, and improve the accuracy of case documentation. But only when implemented responsibly, and only when they align with real policing needs, not vendor hype.

Below is a practical framework to help agencies understand how AI enhances (not replaces) a well-designed video platform strategy.

Why Agencies Are Looking for AI-Driven Video Tools

Video evidence is expanding faster than staffing resources. Agencies deal with thousands of hours of footage across Body-Worn Cameras (BWC), In-Car Video systems (ICV), fixed interview rooms, and citizen-submitted media. AI can help solve critical pain points:

• Routine evidence review consumes too much officer and investigator time.
• Manual tagging and categorizing often lead to inconsistencies.
• High-volume requests from prosecutors and public records units are difficult to manage.
• Agencies need more efficient ways to surface key events within large video files.
• Court documentation requires accurate, defensible audit trails.

AI is appealing because it promises automation and faster insights, but law enforcement must balance innovation with accuracy, reliability, and legal defensibility.

The Real Value of AI: Enhancing Searchability and Evidence Review

Many agencies imagine AI as a near-future technology that automatically edits, analyzes, and narrates video. In reality, the most impactful AI tools today focus on speeding up the work officers already do, not replacing it.

AI can provide value in areas such as:

• Automatic detection of motion, people, or specific activities.
• Faster navigation through long footage files using “event markers.”
• Improved metadata creation and tagging accuracy.
• Intelligent search features that allow investigators to locate relevant moments within seconds.
• Draft summaries and transcription that help personnel quickly understand timelines before completing formal reports.

These capabilities don’t interfere with chain-of-custody, they simply make video more accessible and easier to use.

Not All AI Is Ready for Courtroom Scrutiny

The law enforcement environment requires precision, transparency, repeatability, and auditability. Not all AI tools meet that standard.

When evaluating AI-enabled video platforms, agencies should look out for the following risks:

• Opaque algorithms that can’t explain how conclusions were reached.
• Overly aggressive automation that risks missing context or misinterpreting footage.
• AI summaries that claim certainty, rather than providing a starting point for human review.
• Lack of compliance documentation for discovery, chain-of-custody, and retention rules.

If a solution cannot withstand courtroom scrutiny, public records review, or internal audit, it does not belong in a law enforcement video strategy.

Where AI Fits Into an Agency’s Long-Term Video Strategy

AI strengthens a video management program when used deliberately and responsibly. Agencies should think of AI as a force multiplier for accuracy and efficiency—not a shortcut.

Key areas where AI provides proven value include:

1. Automating Administrative Workflows

• Event tagging
• Case organization
• Report-ready markers

This reduces human error and allows personnel to focus on judgment-based tasks.

2. Improving Evidence Accessibility

• Smarter searching
• Quick video skim tools
• Event clustering

The goal is to make it easier to find the right moment without manually pouring through hours of footage.

3. Supporting Investigative Outcomes

AI tools can help investigators form timelines more quickly, identify relevant footage faster, and focus their attention on areas of interest, without compromising evidentiary integrity.

4. Enhancing Public Transparency

AI does not replace disclosure requirements, but it can help agencies manage the volume of requests and prepare responsive materials more efficiently.

What Your Agency Should Look for in an AI-Enabled Video Platform

Your AI strategy should align with three core principles:

• Control: You decide when and how AI is used.
• Clarity: AI tools must be explainable, auditable, and legally defensible.
• Consistency: Technology should reinforce standardized training and workflows across the agency.

When evaluating solutions, prioritize:

• Vendor support that understands procurement, compliance, and state-level interoperability needs.
• Consistent calibration and documentation across all video sources.
• Tools built with secure audit logs and tamper-evident workflows.
• AI features that assist officers, rather than override their decision-making.
• Seamless integration with existing BWCs, ICVs, and digital evidence systems.

How Kustom Signals Supports Smart, Responsible AI Adoption

Kustom Signals provides video and evidence management solutions engineered around accuracy, transparency, and long-term reliability, helping agencies adopt AI responsibly while maintaining legally defensible workflows.

Digital Evidence Management Built for Law Enforcement

Kustom Signals’ Digital Evidence Management solutions give agencies a centralized, secure, and highly controlled environment for storing and organizing video, audio, images, documents, and case files. These platforms are designed to:

• Maintain complete, tamper-evident audit trails
• Support consistent workflows across devices such as Argus BWC and Argus ICV
• AI powered Automatic Face Recognition
• Streamline sharing with prosecutors while protecting chain-of-custody

This structured foundation makes AI features more reliable and more useful—because every file is properly tracked, organized, and documented.

Argus Data Vault: Secure, Compliant, Always Accessible

Argus Data Vault strengthens an agency’s strategy by providing cloud-based, CJIS-aware storage with automated backup, flexible access control, and scalability for growing video demands. For agencies that prefer local control of their data, ADV can be deployed as an on-premises server managed within the agency’s existing infrastructure. 

Argus ensures:

• Encrypted, redundant cloud storage for long-term evidence retention
• Controlled access for investigators, supervisors, and administrators
• Ability to schedule automatic updates and system maintenance with minimal IT burden
• Seamless integration with Kustom’s Argus BWC and Argus ICV

Unlike competitor products, Argus Data Vault provides these functions without any paywalls, giving you full access to the tools you need.  ADV gives agencies the confidence to adopt AI tools without compromising security or compliance.

A Practical Path to AI-Enhanced Workflows

With these systems in place, agencies benefit from AI tools that:

• Reduce administrative burdens
• Improve evidence searchability
• Support consistent, standardized workflows across divisions
• Accelerate case preparation without altering original evidentiary files

Kustom’s approach ensures that you have the AI tools you need to work seamlessly, without burdensome paywalls. This enhances your video strategy without replacing officer oversight or compromising courtroom defensibility.

Ready to Strengthen Your Agency’s Video Strategy?

If your agency is evaluating how AI fits into your long-term evidence platform, Kustom Signals can help you navigate the options and build a strategy grounded in accuracy, transparency, and operational integrity.

Contact us today to discuss how our video solutions can support your mission.