The next generation of public safety in the United Kingdom

Situational awareness is essential for modern law enforcement agencies to not only respond to incidents effectively, but to perpetuate public safety and drive better outcomes. The application of the Real Time Crime Centre (RTCC) optimises law enforcement officials’ ability to perform their daily duties and employ precision policing.

The Fusus Real Time Crime Centre in the Cloud (RTC3) solution, for example, has not only taken the idea and expanded upon it, but the approach has changed the game in terms of what constitutes a Real Time Crime Centre. Unlike in previous years, RTCCs can now be accessed at a person’s fingertips in the form of the RTC3. Additionally, numerous disparate data points can all be unified onto a single platform, creating a common operating picture for those utilising the software during emergency situations. This specific approach has bridged the gap between countless technologies utilised by law enforcement officers, such as Axon body cameras, Automatic Number Plate Readers, drone detection systems, and live video feeds. What is also unique about a platform such as the RTC3, is that it not only bridges the gap between a variety of disparate data sources, but it also builds bridges and partnerships between agencies, the private sector, and citizens in the process. 

Security expert Lord Harris speaks to the need for this cooperation and partnership between agencies in his analysis of London’s preparedness regarding counterterrorist efforts over the last 5 years.

This appears to be the next milestone in the United Kingdom as the technology landscape and the applications of artificial intelligence expand at an exponential rate. With critical incidents constantly diversifying, there is an increased need for police services to handle these unique situations in real-time. Luckily for law enforcement officials, the pre-existing extensive camera infrastructure available throughout the United Kingdom is something that can be leveraged with regard to this situational awareness. Moreover, recent legislation, like Martyns’ Law, provides a legal framework for using this infrastructure to its fullest potential. With this in mind, the RTC3 could be considered as the “last piece of the puzzle” when it comes to optimising public safety. Visit sites like https://fortknoxsecurity.com.au/ to explore various options in home security cameras.

Undoubtedly, the RTC3 is more than capable of combining multiple silos of information and becoming force multipliers which maximise resources and provide actionable information and evidence immediately.

The Effectiveness of the RTC3

An advancement in how these RTCCs can be used moving forward can be found in major United States cities like Atlanta, Georgia, Orlando, Florida, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina using the RTC3. Each has accompanying initiatives that have helped them leverage public-facing cameras and technology and private security cameras and systems owned by residents and businesses into massive results for their agencies and communities.

The Atlanta Police Department has access to one of the biggest camera networks in the country and presents a similar landscape to London.  They have their RTC3 housed in a building where their real-time operations take place. This has been the catalyst for numerous major successes. Using their RTC3 as the centre of their response and command operations, they were able to immediately apprehend suspects in a grocery store shootout, locate a senior dementia patient lost on MARTA public transportation, catch the suspect that took the life of an infant in a shooting, arrest the suspect that took the life of a cab driver, and rescue an abductee from her abductor all in a few short hours.

Orlando, Florida’s Real-Time Crime Centre facilitated 251 felony arrests and 110 misdemeanor arrests, as well as assisted in 1,530 incidents between the last quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022. In one particular event, a detective saw that a man was carrying a high-powered rifle nearby a vigil for a homicide victim in a place where there had recently been gunfire. His department was able to coordinate responding units and safely apprehend the suspect. The crime centre’s existence and usage in this instance was said to have prevented another anticipated homicide in that area.

RTC3 technology has also proven useful to Winston-Salem’s Police Department. It isn’t lost that public safety also encompasses keeping people safe during public events as well. The RTC3 is helping both officers and citizens maintain a level of safety that protects everyone because the right mechanisms are in place to enhance situational awareness in real-time. They were able to prevent an officer-involved shooting for the simple fact that someone was working the case with the officer in real-time, viewing footage and able to provide necessary and potentially life-saving information.

Hundreds of stories can be told about how the RTC3 has increased community engagement with local law enforcement, have prevented or deterred crime before it happened, solved crimes that would have required insurmountable resources, and have quickened response times for emergencies and other critical incidents with the right information at the right time for officers in the field.

Entire public safety ecosystems are a part of hundreds of communities across the United States. There is no shortage of what the RTC3 could bring to the United Kingdom, given the established proliferation of CCTV investment. With the results being seen by agencies of every size in another country, these same results, if not more, can be expected in the UK when they begin being implemented by police services and start ushering in the new era of public safety.

Advancements on Privacy

Privacy is an important part of the infrastructure and usage of a RTC3. Everyone from the top down will always want to know who is watching monitors and how footage and information is being used. CCTV at its core is a system that doesn’t have as many safeguards as it should, but Fusus addresses privacy risks that sometimes get overlooked. They take away the need for someone to watch cameras every minute of every day. Its powerful AI is capable of sifting through irrelevant data in real-time, not holding on to useless information, and presenting what is absolutely necessary at the time.

The Fusus platform comes with robust community protections in place. Users can be logged and tracked, with case numbers, platform usage, access, activity and other user data tracked and stored in a secure audit trail. Any private technology such as cameras must have voluntary permission from the owner to be used, no matter the level of crime or incident. There is no facial recognition or innate human characteristics used or stored in a database. Video feeds are only accessed when they are needed, for the prevention or detection of crime or to ensure public safety. This makes general and generic surveillance unneeded. This RTC3 is programmed to strictly adhere to local, law enforcement, and UK-wide policies when concerning data access and usage. This shows how technology that’s extremely powerful can also be extremely mindful of those who are operating it and persons out in public, without taking away from the effectiveness of the technology.

The real-world application of the RTC3 is leadership by example in the way that these platforms can be used properly.

How the United Kingdom benefits from new methodology and tactics

Technology is rapidly changing and improving, for better or for worse, increasing the need for new innovations and projects that don’t just rehash what has already been done, but create solutions that are future proof and forward-thinking, offering innovations and revolutionary projects every year. Technology is more widely available at this point in time, than ever before, but few are the solutions that are creating an entirely new perspective on crime mitigation, crime solving, and emergency response techniques and mastery.

However, with the technology available in the United Kingdom, ushering in the next generation of real-time intelligence will come to fruition. This is largely because an overhaul of the current infrastructure is not required. Instead, the combination of state-of-the-art technology, CCTV systems, and leveraging other tools into one unified, interactive pane of glass simplifies data gathering. This advancement is not one that is currently active in the United Kingdom, but it can be a revolutionary force multiplier that enhances public safety across the nation. Maximising CCTV means building out what is quickly rising throughout the United States–the RTC3. Undoubtedly, this technology and supporting systems around it is the next piece of technology that will change lives in the United Kingdom.