How AI can help law enforcement agencies solve crimes faster

Content provided by Hexagonal

Written by Bill Campbell

A crime analyst at a metro real-time intelligence center (RTIC) stares at the glow of her three computer screens, searching for directions.

There’s no shortage of data available: It can access license plate readers, gunshot detection sensors, video doorbell camera data, city and business security video, and even drone footage in some cases. There is also the National Crime Information Center, internal databases of offenders and victims, electronic surveillance systems, facial recognition software, computer-assisted transmission data, and social media.

How do you understand the data deluge? The good news is that not all of the burden is on her.

The use of artificial intelligence in LE

RTIC’s Common driver image softwarewhich aggregates all data feeds together, with built-in assistive AI capability.

While the analyst combs through incident reports, an AI simultaneously working in the background identifies a pattern and sends a notification to the crime analyst. In the past two days, five car thefts occurred in her agency’s northern region and in a neighboring jurisdiction.

The analyst zooms in on the crime scene and looks for IoT devices in the area that may have captured video of the incidents. The GIS layer opens to see the cameras’ field of view, which helps it select the most useful camera.

It then reviews all incidents, as AI highlights the names, locations, and addresses associated with each crime. The analyst learns of an alias used by a local gang. She prepares a report for the detectives, who now have enough information to begin identifying suspects.

Real-time intelligence pros

Thanks to artificial intelligence, an investigation that could take weeks or months can now be finished in a matter of days.

AI puts “real time” in real-time intelligence—providing vital information to RTICs from multiple partners including police, sheriffs, fire, federal agencies or other community services—and providing law enforcement with the most accurate, up-to-date information available information.

With RTIC software powered by artificial intelligence such as HxGN connectionUsers can collect all of their data and data provided by their partners, and the Smart Advisor AI can access it all, reporting deviations or trends and making proactive recommendations in real time, and even sending messages and task teams to act on the information.

AI can also detect complex connections between more events sooner than contextual history searches and personal knowledge alone. This allows analysts to make more efficient, effective, and scalable assessments than separate manual video monitoring, alarms, and joint operating images.

By detecting critical communications in advance, AI can help prevent escalating incidents that could lead to other disruptive events. This, in turn, helps agencies keep their communities and field staff safe while operating at higher capacity and not overwhelming staff.

Artificial intelligence provides a second set of eyes, making sure users don’t miss important communications. It can also take the pressure off new hires while building knowledge about communities and events. Artificial intelligence is also having a positive impact on cooperation between agencies and jurisdictions. Public safety agencies typically maintain silos of information and are reluctant to share data due to privacy concerns or technological barriers. Assistive AI can let users decide what data they want to share and when, enabling more collaboration between jurisdictions and building trust.

Bottom line: AI can improve RTIC’s ability to break down barriers, make sense of data, and most importantly, solve crimes faster to keep communities safe.

To find out how AI can help your agency, visit reimaginecollaboration.com.

About the author
Bill Campbell is Senior Vice President of Safety, Infrastructure and Geospatial Division at Hexagon.