The Foresight Files
The Foresight Files are fictional stories about the near future of policing — where the boundaries between fiction and reality blur and the outlines of future policing take shape. It is a AI-centric project intended to help police practitioners, policymakers and interested community leaders develop individual and organizational foresight. These stories are created by the authors using large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Claude. The accompanying artwork is also AI-generated. The stories are inspired by real-world events, scientific advances, or forward-leaning discussions. And each include a series of questions to help you reflect on the issues they present and develop your foresight skills.
Storytelling is powerful. Humans have been telling each other stories since they were first able to communicate. Today, we can easily synthesize engaging stories that articulate and stimulate thinking about the near future of policing. We can literally produce stories from tomorrow. And we can do this by harnessing the emerging synthetic creativity between humans and AI.
Fictional short stories about the near future serve as imaginative and creative tools for exploring the predictable and unforeseen challenges policing may face. By crafting scenarios that stretch the boundaries of current experiences, these narratives allow leaders and their followers to grapple with ethical dilemmas, technological advancements, societal shifts, and natural disasters in a controlled, creative environment. This process can equip organizations with a proactive mindset, helping them anticipate possible scenarios and develop adaptive strategies before these situations materialize. These stories not only help prepare officers for the unexpected but also encourage innovative thinking, fostering a culture that is both anticipatory and responsive to change.
The Resistance
In 2030 Chicago, immigration enforcement has become the flashpoint of a fractured nation. When an ICE raid ignites a violent ambush by a movement calling itself The Resistance, a city commander must navigate the impossible — protecting both law and life and trying to support fellow law enforcement officers while America’s institutions turn against each other. The Resistance explores the future of policing in a divided society, where federal power, local autonomy, and public trust collide.
The Mask Line: When Laws and Missions Collide
In 2028 Los Angeles, a standoff between masked ICE agents and LAPD officers spirals into chaos — and one gunshot changes everything. Inspired by California’s new No Secret Police Act (SB 627), this Foresight Files story explores what happens when state and federal law collide, and community trust is on the line.
“The Learning Badge”
The Learning Badge invites us to imagine a future where policing, like medicine, becomes a profession that learns in real time. Instead of letting wisdom fade with retirement, a teaching police department captures lessons from every call, every mistake, and every innovation. It challenges us to ask: if policing embraced humility, transparency, and continuous learning, could it not only protect communities more effectively but also safeguard the officers who serve them?
“The TrustNet Incident”
In a near-future Charlotte transformed by AI-powered policing, Officer Jamal Carter must choose between trusting his training — or trusting his instincts — when a predictive algorithm mislabels a desperate father as a threat. The TrustNet Incident explores what happens when technology makes a mistake, and how one child’s voice helps a city remember the power of human judgment.
“Beyond the Bark”
Beyond the Bark takes readers into a near future where AI finally bridges the gap between humanK9 officers and their canine partners. When a young child is kidnapped, Officer Ben Carter and his Belgian Malinois, Vex, race through a decaying factory guided not just by instinct but by a revolutionary harness that lets them “speak.” What follows is a tense confrontation that tests trust, technology, and the very nature of partnership. This is more than a crime story — it’s a glimpse into how AI could forever transform the bond between officers and their K9s.
“Steel and Grace”
In a burning Los Angeles night of 2035, MARA-19 — a Maternal-Aligned Robotic Agent — leaps without hesitation to save a mother and child, proving that empathy and courage can be coded as deeply as strength and precision. Steel and Grace captures the dawn of a new era in policing, where machines don’t just enforce — they protect, connect, and remind us of our shared humanity.
“In the Black Line”
In the near-future America of In the Black Line, stability is reclaimed through a shadowy alliance of elite strike teams and omniscient AI systems. But at what cost? As ARC agents execute targets flagged by predictive algorithms and the state exports its “undesirables,” the story exposes a chilling vision of justice traded for control. This Foresight Files entry forces readers to confront the moral hazards of algorithmic governance, techno-militarized policing, and the silent complicity of those who operate inside the black line.
“Echoes of the Beat: Community Policing in the Age of AI”
Echo of the Beat explores the future of community policing in 2030, where AI-driven tools amplify — not replace — the human connection between officers and residents. Through the story of Officer Anya Sharma, we see how technology helps identify problems, foster collaboration, and remind us that public safety is ultimately built on trust and shared responsibility.
“We are not Data”
By 2035, Oakland has become a city under the unblinking eye of The Net—a web of surveillance drones, predictive algorithms, and robotic enforcers. When a May Day protest erupts into chaos, Sergeant Malia Cortez leads the charge to contain it. But as the city falls under mechanical order, a defiant movement rises with a single, haunting declaration: WE ARE NOT DATA.
“Protocol 9”
In a future where mental health calls are as dangerous as they are delicate, two officers deploy a neuro-AI drone—part therapist, part tech—to de-escalate a crisis without a shot fired. But as the technology succeeds, the public reaction reveals a deeper fracture. Is society ready for policing that intervenes at the mind’s edge?
“The Man Who Wasn’t There”
In a city where surveillance sees everything, one man proves he can disappear. The Man Who Wasn’t There explores freedom, control, and the limits of policing in a world where anonymity itself has become a crime.
“Signal in the Silence”
In Avondale, Cincinnati, 2035, a mental health crisis is detected not by a 911 call, but by the city's AI-enabled Pulse Grid. What follows is a quiet, revolutionary moment in policing—a human-centered response aided by smart tech, neurodivergent-accessible interfaces, and real-time ethical oversight. Officer Jordan Reyes doesn’t escalate. He listens. And because of that, Marcus walks away alive and supported. Signal in the Silence imagines a near future where tech doesn’t replace empathy — it amplifies it.
A Murder of Witnesses
In a future where police use technology to communicate with animals like crows, investigators must confront new ethical, legal, and societal challenges as animal testimony reshapes the boundaries of justice.