Can AI help solve cold cases?

Veritone, a Los Angeles-area artificial intelligence and data company, announced Tuesday it will partner with the Cold Case Foundation, a nonprofit focused on solving unsolved violent crimes, to use technology to help solve cases faster.

The foundation, which focuses primarily on unsolved violent crimes, such as homicides, missing persons cases, unidentified remains, and rapes or sexual assaults with serial characteristics, will use AI-powered technology from Veritone called Investigative Digital Evidence Management System, or iDEMS. It allows investigators to compile various data sources — paper records, physical media, CCTV footage, body-worn camera videos, mobile device data — into a single, searchable system.

According to the company, it can transcribe audio from old tapes and analyze video, making all case data quickly searchable. In a press release, the company provided an example: the platform will allow investigators with the Cold Case Foundation to use AI to search a collection of evidence for a vehicle mentioned in a 1995 interview, immediately surfacing an audio clip mentioning the same vehicle, alongside a frame from recent CCTV footage showing a similar car. Investigative leads buried across decades might quickly surface.

Butch Rabiega, the Cold Case Foundation’s AI program director, noted in the press release that the sheer amount of digital evidence involved in new investigations into older crimes creates opportunities, but can also hamper investigators: “Veritone’s platform is a game-changer for us. It allows our highly specialized team of experts to do the work of a much larger force, cutting through the noise to identify and link the critical pieces of evidence that can break a case open. This technology is revolutionizing our approach, enabling us to give a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves and provide the closure that their families so desperately deserve.”

Veritone’s AI technology is in use by a number of other law enforcement agencies across the country for various applications. The sheriff’s office in Riverside County, California, last year announced it would begin using AI-powered redaction software, allowing officers to accelerate the process of concealing personal information — such as names, addresses or other identifying details — to safeguard the privacy of individuals involved in investigations or captured in recorded footage.

Ryan Steelberg, Veritone’s chief executive, said in the company’s release that the “collaboration is a clear demonstration of AI’s power to serve the public good. By equipping CCF’s dedicated investigators with technology designed to help manage the complexity of modern data, we are not just helping to solve cases; we are helping to restore hope and deliver long-overdue justice to victims and their families. This is technology in service of a vital mission.”