In an embarrassing courtroom revelation, Israeli police officers were caught citing fictional laws generated by ChatGPT to justify keeping a suspect’s mobile phone, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
The case involved investigators from the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 Unit and Coastal District who had seized a suspect’s phone, according to Ynet. Initially, an agreement was reached allowing police to retain the device until 2026, but after two months, the suspect requested its return. He argued that his store had been broken into and robbed, and without his phone he couldn’t access his business’s security system.
At first police agreed to return the device, but later reversed their position. When the suspect’s attorneys petitioned the court for the phone’s release, police submitted an official response citing two “sections of law” supposedly supporting their position. During the hearing, however, the defense attorney made a startling claim: “I suspect the police response was taken from ChatGPT. The quoted law sections don’t exist.”
Following this accusation, the police representative acknowledged the error, stating, “My colleague is correct. We retract our statement. What was quoted is incorrect. Whoever wrote this did so in good faith, by mistake. We admit there was an error.”
The judge was not impressed, writing in his ruling, “If I thought I had seen everything in my 30 years on the bench, I was apparently mistaken.”
Ultimately, the judge devised a practical solution. The suspect would provide police with a new, empty phone, and police would transfer all content from the original device to it. This arrangement would allow the device itself to remain with police for investigation purposes while enabling the suspect to access information vital to his business.
The Israel Police stated in response, “The answer was written contrary to standard procedure, therefore the commander of the unit in charge of the investigation has ordered an inquiry and will take steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
