Police Identification and Records Officers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 40% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 41% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 59% of the time, stays with people.
Collect evidence at crime scene, classify and identify fingerprints, and photograph evidence for use in criminal and civil cases.
$93,790 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on16 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people24 h
Police Identification and Records Officers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 16 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 24 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Maintain records of evidence and write and review reports (about 11 h); Identify, compare, classify, and file fingerprints, using systems such as Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) or the Henry Classification System (about 3 h); Create sketches and diagrams, by hand or computer software, to depict crime scenes (about 1 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 41%
- 5%
- 54%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 20%. Today's estimate: 40%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0025% to 0.0029% (released February and March 2025).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0025% | 677 of 708 | 1 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0029% | 629 of 703 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 58% of this job's working time as physical work. For 13% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 13% in a purpose-built cell. 0.13 of 3, the 496th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 42%
- No robot shown 45%
- In a purpose-built cell 13%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain records of evidence and write and review reports.Done daily by most who do it. | 28% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | 97%Half by now | |
| Analyze and process evidence at crime scenes, during autopsies, or in the laboratory, wearing protective equipment and using powders and chemicals.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify, compare, classify, and file fingerprints, using systems such as Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) or the Henry Classification System.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 50 min13 min to 2.5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Photograph crime or accident scenes for evidence records.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Package, store and retrieve evidence.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sparrow (Amazon Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Look for trace evidence, such as fingerprints, hairs, fibers, or shoe impressions, using alternative light sources when necessary.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Submit evidence to supervisors, crime labs, or court officials for legal proceedings.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ScriptPro SP 200 / CRS 150 (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Interview survivors, witnesses, suspects, and other law enforcement personnel.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Dust selected areas of crime scene and lift latent fingerprints, adhering to proper preservation procedures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform emergency work during off-hours.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Process film and prints from crime or accident scenes.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Coordinate or conduct instructional classes or in-services, such as citizen police academy classes and crime scene training for other officers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Police Identification and Records Officers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 40% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 41% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Police Identification and Records Officers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Maintain records of evidence and write and review reports (97% of the task's time now); Identify, compare, classify, and file fingerprints, using systems such as Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) or the Henry Classification System (99% of the task's time now); and Create sketches and diagrams, by hand or computer software, to depict crime scenes (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Police Identification and Records Officers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Analyze and process evidence at crime scenes, during autopsies, or in the laboratory, wearing protective equipment and using powders and chemicals; Photograph crime or accident scenes for evidence records; and Package, store and retrieve evidence. Together such tasks are about 59% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Police Identification and Records Officers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 4%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Police Identification and Records Officers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 58% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 13% of the working time. Its index is 0.13 of 3. One example: Sparrow (Amazon Robotics) for "package, store and retrieve evidence". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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