#48 - Daniel Francis, Founder & CEO of Abel Police
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features Daniel Francis, founder and CEO of Able Police, a company that uses AI to transform police body camera footage into reports. Francis shares his unconventional journey from startup founder to police technology entrepreneur, sparked by a personal experience where police response times highlighted systemic inefficiencies. (50:00) The conversation explores his extensive field research through 32 police ride-alongs, the challenges of selling to government agencies, and how his technology could fundamentally transform law enforcement efficiency.
- Main Theme: How AI-powered report writing could revolutionize policing by freeing officers from administrative burden to focus on actual police work, potentially saving lives through increased street presence.
Speakers
Daniel Francis
Daniel Francis is the founder and CEO of Able Police, a company that transforms police body camera footage into automated reports using AI. A former data engineer who sold a fitness app, Francis has conducted over 32 police ride-alongs across multiple departments to deeply understand law enforcement workflows. He's a Y Combinator alumnus who spent months in China and Japan, and overcame a serious neurological condition at age 15 that temporarily paralyzed him from the waist down.
Key Takeaways
Deep Customer Immersion Beats Traditional Market Research
Francis conducted 32 police ride-alongs instead of relying on surveys or interviews, spending entire shifts with officers to understand their real pain points. (58:00) This hands-on approach revealed that officers spend over one-third of their time writing reports, with some departments like SFPD requiring reports for every detainable interaction. Unlike traditional customer interviews that can miss crucial context, Francis experienced firsthand how broken technology, mandatory overtime, and administrative burden create a cycle of inefficiency that keeps good cops off the streets.
Target Pain Points Where Customers Feel Desperate
The most successful early customers weren't the biggest or most prestigious departments, but those facing acute staffing shortages post-2020. (44:12) Francis learned that agencies experiencing real pain are willing to take risks on new technology, while well-staffed departments prefer to wait and see. This aligns with the principle that "places that need you most are the last to get you" - departments in crisis situations become early adopters out of necessity, not convenience.
Solve Adjacent Problems to Expand Market Share
After establishing a beachhead with report writing, Francis expanded into citizen reporting through "Able Citizen" when Richmond needed to replace LexisNexis due to sanctuary city conflicts. (74:48) Rather than just grinding on one product, he identified complementary pain points that create more officer work downstream. This strategy leverages existing customer relationships while addressing the root cause: anything that wastes officer time ultimately reduces public safety effectiveness.
Compliance Can Become Your Competitive Moat
Francis invested heavily in CJIS compliance (Criminal Justice Information Security standards), which most general AI tools like ChatGPT cannot meet. (19:12) While compliance was initially a massive headache requiring custom implementation, it became a defensible advantage that prevents larger players from easily entering the market. The narrow, specialized nature of police data requirements creates natural barriers that protect against commodity AI solutions.
Measure What Actually Matters, Not Vanity Metrics
Instead of tracking crime statistics (which are often manipulated or revised), Francis focuses on report writing time reduction as his core KPI. (52:57) His pilot with Belmont showed a 40% reduction in report writing time - a concrete, measurable outcome that directly impacts officer availability. This approach emphasizes measuring inputs you can control rather than downstream outcomes influenced by many variables beyond your product's scope.
Statistics & Facts
- Officers spend one-third of their time writing reports: Francis discovered through his ride-alongs that police officers dedicate approximately 33% of their working hours to paperwork, with some departments like SFPD spending "way more than that" due to onerous reporting requirements. (20:00)
- 18,000 police agencies exist in the United States: The highly fragmented nature of American policing means there are 18,000 separate police agencies, each with different software, contracts, and requirements - creating both opportunity and complexity for police technology companies. (20:37)
- 10% of solved crimes now use automated license plate readers: Francis mentioned that Flock (ALPR system) technology is now responsible for solving 10% of crimes that get investigated and solved in the US, demonstrating the profound impact of police technology adoption. (42:40)
