Vancouver police explain ‘made with AI’ image of seized drugs, cash

A post by the Vancouver Police Department featuring an image labelled “made with AI” is drawing backlash online.

The Vancouver Police Department posted an image of seized cash and drugs labelled “made with AI” on social media Wednesday, drawing backlash from some commenters.

The image accompanied a statement about a series of arrests and small-scale seizures around a busy transit hub in East Vancouver that “historically sees spikes in drug activity, violence, and overdoses during welfare cheque issue week.”

Asked why police used the image, a department spokesperson provided CTV News with a brief statement.

“We used software to edit out the names of the accused. The edited photo has been taken down and replaced with the original photo that has been cropped to exclude the names of the accused,” Sgt. Adam Donalson wrote in an email.

A question about whether the department has a policy about using artificial intelligence in its communications with the public went unanswered, as did a question about whether the use of AI has the potential to undermine public trust.

While the image was labelled as “made with AI” on the X platform, no such label accompanied a now-deleted Facebook post — where the department was roundly criticized in the comments for its apparent use of artificial intelligence to show the results of its work.

Aside from the poor quality of the image, which appeared to show $50 bills labelled “20,” people raised concerns about why a law enforcement agency would use an altered image in the first place.

“If the VPD is now using AI images, sorry, but as a taxpayer, I and others deserve better,” one person wrote.

“There’s enough AI slop in my feed,” said another.

“Hey so are we faking evidence now?” one commenter asked.

According to a news release — which was sent out without an image — there had been nine arrests around the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain Station yielding 114 grams of drugs, $3,000 in cash, a samurai sword and several knives over the past 24 hours.

Those arrests came after police said they were informed of an “overdose cluster” that impacted seven people in the area Tuesday.

“The arrests and seizures made over the past day reflect the dedication of our officers and our commitment to reducing overdoses and disrupting the flow of toxic drugs through this corridor,” the statement from police said.