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August 8, 2012 By Matt Williams
Top New York City officials on Wednesday, Aug. 8, revealed capabilities of a next-generation situational awareness platform being used in the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative Command Center.
The software, called the Domain Awareness System, is New York City’s attempt to build a truly one-stop shop for crime and counterterrorism data that’s accessible in real time to New York Police Department officers and other law enforcement personnel.
Architected by the NYPD with technical assistance from Microsoft, the system brings together the city’s many data sources — from license plate readers, radiation detectors, 911 call information, public and private surveillance cameras, criminal records and incident reports, and predictive analytics — into a single dashboard tailored to aid police work. The information is presented visually on maps and is organized chronologically.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday during an afternoon press conference that the new software is allowing personnel to more quickly access data from existing technology, consequently helping public safety to respond more quickly. The technology also is helping the NYPD to deploy officers more efficiently he said.
“The entire system is designed to improve how New York City’s police officers do their jobs, and that makes it a potentially valuable tool that we can expand to precincts and boroughs across the city,” Bloomberg said. The software might also be useful for other applications besides public safety, he added.
Officials said the system is useful for refining leads and identifying patterns, for apprehending suspects, and for responding to criminal incidents and terrorist threats. It should ultimately help save lives.
“This is system developed for police officers, by police officers,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. “They worked with the developers at Microsoft in countless hours of focus groups. And the result of this joint effort is a tool that meets the needs of the department, one that will help protect New Yorkers, and keep us safe from crime and terrorism for years to come.”
Kelly called the cutting-edge technology a great accomplishment for New York City, and potentially for police departments and other government agencies across the U.S.
Ret. Lt. Gen. Mike McDuffie, Microsoft vice president American sales, also was on hand for Wednesday’s announcement. Microsoft is “deeply committed to taking this initiative to another level,” McDuffie said. The company is “all in,” he said.
New York City will take in 30 percent of revenue generated by the Domain Awareness System, which Microsoft will market to law enforcement agencies across the nation and around the world. Bloomberg said as a result the city thinks it will recoup its investment in the system and may even make some money off of it.
In a prepared statement, the Mayor’s Office gave examples of scenarios where the new system will help the NYPD prevent or solve crimes:
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How is this system generating revenue? What was the NYC investment and from whom? "New York City will take in 30 percent of revenue generated by the Domain Awareness System, which Microsoft will market to law enforcement agencies across the nation and around the world. Bloomberg said as a result the city thinks it will recoup its investment in the system and may even make some money off of it."
"the system brings together the city’s many data sources — from license plate readers..." "Investigators can track where a car associated with a suspect is located, and where it has been in past days, weeks or months;" This seems to indicate that every license plate read by every police car is stored indefinitely, regardless of whether or not the vehicle is missing or stolen or the vehicles owner is wanted for some reason. When a license plate is read, once it is determined there is no problem with the vehicle or the owner, the data should be deleted. This warrantless tracking of every individual who happens to have a vehicle being driven or parked where a police officer can scan the license plate and then store the data indefinitely on innocent people should be challenged in court. Guilty until (if ever) proven innocent?
The revenue is to be generated "by the Domain Awareness System, which Microsoft will market to law enforcement agencies". It sounds like NYC and Microsoft are sharing both development costs and revenue from sales.
S K Y N E T
A technology solution looking for a problem to solve. As the article states.... "developed for police officers, by police officers" and that is very, very scary. There are so many things wrong with this idea when viewed from the Citizen side of the equation. There is so much data being stored, or going to be stored, all without a warrant so when there is an 'event' the data can be searched to find evidence leading to the event. And there are going to be predictive analytics sifting the same data looking for crime even when no one is looking for a crime. And who, exactly, is going to make the decision to define the difference between some random guy walking down the street versus some Terrorist walking down the street. The whole idea seems like one court-case away from being shut down for violations of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution.
The Domain Awareness System technology sounds like it may be very helpful to Law Enforcement Agencies around the Country. It's a great thing to see a major technology company like Microsoft partnering with NYPD to develope new crime fighting tools. This new NYPD technology announcement should have been given by Commissioner Kelly, the head LE Officer of the NYPD NOT Mayor Bloomberg who knows nothing of law enforcement technology, policies,proceedures et al.Good Law Enforcement Operations and Politics are like water and oil…..they not only don’t mix but they heavily impact the abilities of an agency to maintain a high degree of good internal morale and the ability to maintain a clear focus on the job at hand. That job is to provide the very highest level of Law Enforcement service to the citizens of the community that you serve. Mayor Bloomberg in my opinion needs to quit playing politics around the field of Public Safety and rely on his Agency Heads and experts in their field speak.
A similar capability is already working at the Lowell Police Department in MA. See the link http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_20988821/ipads-keep-lowell-police-touch?source=rss. Called PolicePad, it was developed by Zco Corporation working with the Lowell Police Department and runs on the Apple iPad. There is a version for the fire service as well, called FireTab. Both PolicePad and FireTab will be demonstrated at the International Association of Chiefs of Police show in San Diego on September 30th, booth 2004. Check it out at www.zco.com/policepad. Also, Zco will be unveiling "Time Patrol" for crime analysis at the show.