Earlier this year, Abel founder Daniel Francis found himself hurtling down a highway in Oakland, California at 135 miles per hour. The driver? A police officer with a gun in his lap.
Francis often accompanies police officers in their cars to gather research for his company, which specializes in creating AI for police reports. While these rides are usually uneventful, one particular day turned out to be different. The officer pulled over a man who panicked, hit the gas pedal, and almost collided with someone. Francis and the officer took off in pursuit. “I was so thrilled,” Francis remembered. “Finally, something was happening! Not just the usual stolen car call where we fill out a report.”
After 40 intense minutes, with a heart-racing finale through the narrow Oakland Hills streets, the man’s car finally ran out of gas. The officer was visibly sweating, and Francis’s heart was pounding. Between dodging parked cars and speeding down the highway, Francis pondered the role of AI in such situations. How would AI tackle writing a police report for a car chase? “It’s one of the toughest reports to write,” he explained. “You need to detail every side street and every turn you took. These reports are extensive.”
During his 20 police ride-alongs, Francis has brainstormed ways AI could streamline police paperwork. His company, Abel, utilizes body camera footage and dispatch call data to efficiently complete typically time-consuming reports. Recently, he announced a $5 million seed round led by Day One Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, and Y Combinator to enhance Abel’s AI technology.
Francis may sound familiar to some. When Elon Musk laid off thousands of Twitter employees in 2023, Francis jokingly pretended to be a disgruntled Twitter engineer online. Surprisingly, this led to him actually being hired as a Twitter engineer. According to Francis, working for Musk is more stressful than being in a high-speed pursuit. “If Elon yells at you, it’s terrifying,” he chuckled.
Francis’s shift from social media to police technology was inspired by a series of unfortunate events involving helping a friend escape an abusive marriage. After relocating her secretly, her husband managed to track down their new location, leading to terrifying confrontations. Francis recalled, “It was the most heart-pounding thing I’ve done in years.”
Disturbed by the delayed police response during these incidents, Francis delved deeper. He discovered that writing a police report can consume up to 45 minutes, wasting valuable officer time. This realization sparked his obsession with developing AI models to streamline report writing. Abel was born, initially with homemade body cam footage reenacting minor crimes. Today, Abel is operational in Richmond, California, where officers have integrated it into their routines, saving them valuable time.
Francis isn’t alone in the AI police report field. Competitors like Axon and Policereports.ai are also contributing to revolutionizing police paperwork. His hope is that Abel will alleviate the burden on police officers. “It’s better for everyone if cops aren’t overworked or burned out,” he said. “They should be able to focus on the job they signed up for.”
