AI Policy
How we use artificial intelligence responsibly to serve our community.
Our Approach to AI
Bellingham Scan uses artificial intelligence as a tool to help a small team analyze data at scale and rapidly deploy content for our community. AI enables us to process large volumes of incident data, identify patterns, and create readable reports more efficiently than would otherwise be possible.
We believe in being transparent about how and where we use AI technology, so you can trust the information we provide.
How We Use AI
Content Drafting
AI assists in drafting report summaries, headlines, and narrative content based on incident data.
Pattern Detection
AI helps identify trends, unusual activity patterns, and statistical insights from raw data.
Data Classification
AI assists in categorizing and organizing incident data for clearer presentation.
Summary Generation
AI creates statistical summaries and comparative analyses across time periods.
What AI Never Does
Never Creates or Modifies Incident Data
All incident data comes directly from Bellingham Police Department sources without any AI alteration. Case numbers, dates, times, locations, and offense types are presented exactly as received from BPD. AI cannot add, remove, or change any incident record.
Never Replaces Human Judgment
Human review is part of every content publication process. Editorial decisions about what to publish, how to frame information, and what context to provide are always made by people.
Never Generates Images
We do not use AI-generated imagery on Bellingham Scan. All visual content, including heatmaps and charts, is generated from actual data using standard visualization tools.
Human-in-the-Loop Process
- Every piece of content is reviewed by a human before publication
- Humans verify accuracy, appropriateness, and clarity
- Editorial decisions are made by people, not algorithms
- Feedback and corrections are handled by our team
Data Integrity Promise
We are committed to maintaining the integrity of the data we present:
- Source incident data (case numbers, dates, locations, categories) is never AI-generated
- AI cannot add, remove, or modify any incident record from BPD
- What the Bellingham Police Department reports is exactly what we present
- Statistical calculations and comparisons use actual data, not AI estimates
Continuous Improvement
We regularly review our AI processes to ensure they meet our standards for accuracy, fairness, and transparency. As AI technology evolves, we will update this policy to reflect any changes in how we use these tools.
Questions or Concerns?
Transparency is a core value at Bellingham Scan. If you have questions about our use of AI or concerns about any content, please contact us at contact@bellinghamscan.com.
Learn More
We believe in transparency. Learn more about how we operate:
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