Safe Cities
Crime rates tend to grow with the population, and today’s municipal crime comes in all forms – from petty theft to violent assault, arson and acts of terrorism. But when tasked with securing a sprawling modern metropolis – many of which are domicile to well over 1 million people – how should officials best leverage available technology?
These unique challenges have led many police departments, school administrations, mayor’s offices and other stakeholders to invest in becoming a Safe City – with an overriding goal of reducing crime, mitigating safety concerns and delivering a better quality of life. A Safe City encompasses a full security technology suite – video surveillance, access control, gunshot detection, license plate recognition and other technologies – that help unify the various departments and organizations within a city, share information and provide more proactive response. To achieve success, all agencies must be on board, including private businesses.
When all law enforcement agencies, public safety officials and private entities take an integrated approach, they’re able to share information real-time across various platforms. This enables officials to address incidents and emergencies immediately, instead of waiting for updates from other departments. In a Safe City, for example, each agency could be notified of gunshots at a city park by detection technologies centered on the consolidated network. They could tap into various agencies surveillance feeds to track the suspect across town, even on mass transit. If the subject entered a business or school, officials could also access data there in order to maintain immediate situational awareness. More and more cities are using mobile applications as part of their Safe City network, so officials may even be able to track the suspect on their handheld device in the field.