Now, Alyssa Bereznak reports for Yahoo Tech that crime is dramatically down thanks to tech-enabled policing. Special microphones in 35 buildings listen for gunshots and point cameras toward the sounds. Patrol cars are equipped with license plate readers while cameras watch from above. A “war room” monitors real-time surveillance video.
Camden has a long history of social unrest and police tension dating back to race riots in the 1960s, Bereznak writes. The city of 77,000 people is notably safer today than it was three years ago, with murders and shootings down about 50 percent. But it’s hardly paradise. The city is plagued by poverty and remains the most dangerous urban area in the state of New Jersey. Meanwhile, critics complain about privacy intrusions from the surveillance and overzealous ticketing for minor infractions.
Read the full story here.
This article originally appeared on Citiscope. Citiscope is a nonprofit news outlet that covers innovations in cities around the world. More at Citiscope.org.
