That’s the lesson so far from Glendale, Ariz., where police are using a “smart transcription” tool from Motorola Solutions for faster responses to real and potential crimes, including murders.
The experiences there foreshadow what other law enforcement agencies can expect as they upgrade their technology.
The call summaries are part of the larger effort in that city — located in the Phoenix metro area, one of the fastest growing parts of the U.S. — to operate a real-time crime center.
Those summaries, arriving quickly into the command center, can respond to key words such as “gun” and “knife,” which in turn can bring up camera views of the area in question, record the situation and start deploying officers there, Chief Chris Briggs told Government Technology. Cameras used include traffic cameras and those owned by schools and private businesses.
“The whole idea is getting information faster,” he said of the call summary technology, in use for about two months.
Already, he said, the system has resulted in the relatively quick arrest of a homicide suspect based on the capture of the suspect’s license plate and vehicle information — and before that suspect was able to blend further into traffic, which could have increased the danger for officers and innocent drivers.
The information from “smart transcription,” in fact, arrived before an incident was entered into the department’s computer-aided dispatch system.
The call summary technology, combined with the larger real-time crime center, essentially boosts “situational awareness” for officers, Briggs said. Such tools can give those officers a “jump-start on crimes.”
When it comes to the larger issue of real-time crime centers — a growing trend in government technology, one that promises to incorporate drones and artificial intelligence — one of the main challenges is administrative, according to Dave Wilson, a former police officer who now works as public safety adviser for Motorola Solutions.
“They need to consider staffing, training, policies and procedures, while ensuring personnel and the public understand how they responsibly use technology,” he said via email about departments that want to create such a cutting-edge hub.
But as police departments continue to struggle with hiring and retention, he said many will turn to those real-time crime centers, or RTCCs, to make sure they don’t fall behind with crime fighting.
“For public safety agencies struggling with staffing numbers, [an] RTCC can be a force multiplier,” he said. “For instance, real-time intelligence can mean that fewer officers can be dispatched to a targeted location rather than sending multiple officers to cover a wider perimeter.”
Another selling point for public safety tech firms such as Motorola Solutions is that those centers can appeal to a fresh type of police officer.
“The work being done by officers in RTCCs is also attractive to new police recruits who have been using technology all their lives,” Wilson said. “Today’s candidates can be selective and shop for an agency that uses technology and AI like they do in their personal lives. They know real-time intelligence can lead to better outcomes.”
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to clarify that Motorola Solutions was the company involved in the project.
