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California SB 524: AI Police Report Requirements and Agency Checklist

For California agencies using AI to prepare covered police reports, SB 524 sets requirements for disclosure, officer verification, and records. Use this guide to organize the process from the first AI draft to the signed report.

Updated October 13, 2026 · California Penal Code § 13663

Agency checklist Report requirements

SB 524 took effect January 1, 2026, adding California Penal Code § 13663. Agency report policies should address disclosure, review, first-draft preservation, and audit records.

General information for agencies; consult agency counsel when adopting or updating policy.

Scope / § 13663(e)

Covered agencies and report workflows

The section applies to state and local law enforcement agencies employing peace officers described in Penal Code § 830. It covers official reports created fully or partly using AI within its definition.

Covered workflows include automatic report narratives based on in-car, dash-mounted, or body-worn camera recordings, and officer dictation automatically enhanced by generative AI.

What the statute requires

Five requirements to address in the agency's report process.

01 / Agency policy · § 13663(a)(1)

Disclose AI use and name the programs

Agency policy must require covered official reports to identify every specific AI program used, readily apparent to readers, and prominently include this statement:

This report was written either fully or in part using artificial intelligence.

The disclosure and program identification may appear on each page or within the body of the report.

02 / Officer verification · § 13663(a)(2)

Review the facts and sign the report

The officer or agency member preparing the report must provide a physical or electronic signature verifying that they reviewed the contents and that the facts in the report are true and correct.

03 / First draft · § 13663(b)(1), (e)(3)

Preserve the first AI-generated draft

The agency must retain the initial document or narrative produced solely by AI for as long as it retains the signed official report.

04 / Audit trail · § 13663(c)

Keep the user and source record

The agency must maintain an audit trail identifying, at minimum, the person who used AI to create the report and the video and audio footage used, if any. Retain the audit trail for as long as the official report is retained.

05 / Vendor duties · § 13663(d)

Apply the statutory information-use limits

A contracted vendor may not share, sell, or otherwise use agency information submitted for AI processing except for agency purposes or pursuant to a court order. The statute permits vendor access to processed data for troubleshooting, bias mitigation, accuracy improvement, and system refinement.

Agency implementation checklist

Practical steps for putting the statutory requirements into daily use.

  1. Map the covered workflows. Identify camera-derived report generation, generatively enhanced dictation, and the AI programs used in each process.
  2. Build disclosure into the report. Name every specific AI program and include the required sentence prominently in the final report and its exported formats.
  3. Preserve the first output. Keep the initial AI-only draft before officer editing and link it to the official report.
  4. Record the user and sources. Capture the generating user's identity and identifiers for any source video or audio footage.
  5. Review before signing. Check names, chronology, quotations, and the distinction between officer observations and information received. Correct unsupported statements and resolve missing details.
  6. Assign retention responsibility. Have records staff preserve the initial draft and audit trail for the official report's retention period, including applicable holds.
  7. Review vendor arrangements. Confirm permitted information uses, access, and how the agency will retrieve its report records.

Optional record controls

Consider timestamps, model versions, prompts, hashes, and protected storage to support traceability beyond the statutory minimum.

DraftGuard Report Builder

BWC reports: draft, review, and preserve

For reports drafted from body-worn camera evidence, DraftGuard preserves the first completed AI-generated draft while the officer edits and reviews the working narrative. PDF and Word report exports include the AI interaction history, including that first draft, alongside the report narrative.

Review the facts, complete the officer certification, and download the report package. Preserve the first draft and required audit records in the agency's records process for the official report's retention period.

See the Report Builder workflow

Sources