Public Safety Technology: A Transformative Force for Law Enforcement 

In an era marked by the rapid evolution of technology and increasingly sophisticated criminal activities, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are under unprecedented pressure to adapt quickly and enhance their investigative capabilities. From managing vast amounts of data to combatting complex crimes like cybercrime and financial fraud, the challenges are immense.  

Public safety technology offers LEAs the tools they need to operate more effectively and efficiently. However, the current landscape of tools and solutions has significant limitations. Decision intelligence platforms represent a paradigm shift, offering unparalleled capabilities to meet these challenges head on. 

What is Public Safety Technology?

Public safety technology refers to tools and solutions that enable law enforcement agencies to ensure public safety by accelerating investigations, improving crime detection and streamlining emergency responses. Today, best-in-class public safety technologies often leverage advancements such as AI, IoT and smart devices, enabling law enforcement agencies to address evolving challenges in public safety. 

LEAs utilize a wide range of public safety technologies, which can be roughly categorized into two main groups:  

1. Hardware solutions for public safety: 

• Drones: Unmanned aerial vehicles used for surveillance, crime scene analysis and search and rescue operations. 

• Body-Worn Cameras: Devices worn by officers to record interactions, enabling transparency and evidence collection. 

• Gunshot Detection Systems: Acoustic sensors that detect and locate gunfire in real-time, enabling rapid response. 

• Thermal Imaging Cameras: Devices that detect heat signatures, useful in low-visibility situations and locating individuals. 

• License Plate Recognition (LPR) Cameras: Systems that automatically read and record vehicle license plates, aiding in vehicle tracking and identification. 

• Biometric Systems: Technologies that utilize unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints or facial features, for identification purposes. 

2. Software solutions for public safety:

• Case management systems organize and streamline investigations by managing evidence, reports and communications. 

• Crime mapping and crime analysis software analyzes crime trends to guide resource allocation and patrol strategies. 

• Surveillance systems leverage video analytics and facial recognition software, providing critical insights that often require manual oversight to become actionable 

• Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems coordinate emergency response by assigning units and tracking resources in real time. 

• Incident mapping software automates report generation and data entry, reducing administrative burdens for officers. 

• Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools analyze data from social media platforms, websites and other sources to identify threats and trends. 

Why Public Safety Technology Solutions Fall Short 

While public safety technology has transformed law enforcement operations, it often falls short of meeting current demands. Law enforcement agencies frequently struggle with siloed tools that lack real-time intelligence and do not scale.  

• Fragmentation: Most tools address specific use-cases or issues but are difficult to integrate with other systems. 

• Lack of Real-Time Analysis: Many existing solutions cannot process and analyze data in real time, delaying critical decisions. 

• Resource-Intensive: Manual intervention is frequently required, straining already limited resources. 

For instance, a police department using separate systems for dispatch, gunshot detection, video surveillance and case management may struggle to connect the dots in time-sensitive situations. These inefficiencies emphasize the need for unified platforms that can overcome the shortcomings of traditional systems and meet the demands of modern law enforcement.

Managing the Challenge of Data Overload 

In today’s digital world, law enforcement personnel must contend with an overwhelming influx of data from diverse sources, including surveillance cameras, social media, and IoT devices. According to consulting firm PwC, 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. The challenge lies in processing, analyzing and integrating this data effectively. 

• Volume and Variety: Data comes in formats such as text, video, and audio, complicating efforts to create a cohesive understanding. 

• Siloed Systems: Incompatible systems across departments hinder real-time data sharing and collaborative efforts. 

For example, integrating data from an emergency call center, automatic license plate recognition systems, and OSINT tools is a daunting task. A lack of integration often leads to missed opportunities to prevent or solve crimes. 

Confronting Threats Through Public Safety Technology  

Beyond technological challenges, law enforcement must address large-scale threats that disrupt public safety on a broader scale. These systemic issues require public safety technologies to mitigate and prevent: 

• Organized Crime: Criminal syndicates exploit advanced technologies to coordinate and conceal activities. For instance, organized crime costs Australia’s economy up to $60 billion annually. 

• Financial Crime: Sophisticated schemes and networks create opportunities for money laundering and fraud. In Ireland, the Black Axe cyber gang laundered over €84 million through Irish banks. 

• Cybercrime: AI-driven scams and ransomware attacks are on the rise. Southeast Asian cybercriminals stole up to $37 billion in 2023

The Case for Decision Intelligence Platforms

Public safety technology lays the groundwork, but decision intelligence takes it further by unifying these tools, analyzing vast data sets in real time and delivering actionable insights that enable proactive and effective responses to modern challenges.

Decision intelligence platforms use AI, machine learning, data fusion, data visualization, and collaboration tools to augment and improve decision-making. The goal isn’t to replace policing personnel, but to empower them with enhanced capabilities. By integrating data from various technologies and software into one cohesive system, decision intelligence platforms enable investigators and analysts to see all their organization’s data in one place, delivering insights that are otherwise impossible to obtain through manual analysis. 

Key capabilities include: 

• Data Fusion: Decision intelligence platforms enable analysts to view and explore the full investigation picture by consolidating information from tools like license plate recognition (LPR) cameras, biometric systems and gunshot detection systems, into a single pane of glass.

• Advanced Analytics: Decision intelligence platforms analyze data from diverse sources to detect patterns, predict potential threats, and provide immediate insights that allow law enforcement agencies to act quickly. 

• Collaboration: By enabling policing personnel to easily share information and insights, as well as work on cases collaboratively, decision intelligence platforms enhance cooperation within teams and organizations, as well as across partner agencies, thus improving communication and operational efficiency.

By leveraging a diverse number of public safety technologies and software, decision intelligence platforms transform raw data into actionable intelligence, enabling law enforcement agencies to address complex challenges with speed and precision. 

How NEXYTE Addresses Public Safety Challenges 

NEXYTE, Cognyte’s decision intelligence platform, bridges the gap between traditional public safety technology systems and the demands of modern law enforcement by offering a unified, real-time approach to public safety challenges. Its key capabilities include: 

• Big Data Integration: NEXYTE’s ability to continuously process and analyze large datasets transforms raw data into one unified intelligence view. 

• Advanced Analytics: Harnessing AI to automate the analysis process of challenging data formats accelerates public safety investigations by surfacing crucial insights and links, which would otherwise remain hidden.  

• Investigation tools: Exploring investigation subjects and objects through advanced data visualization, featuring holistic profiles, link analysis, activity timelines, and geospatial mapping 

By leveraging the benefits mentioned above, NEXYTE delivers a holistic solution to the complexities of modern policing. 

Real-World Applications 

NEXYTE has been instrumental in helping authorities to: 

• Detect and disrupt criminal networks by identifying hidden patterns in financial transactions. 

• Enhance situational awareness during large-scale public events through real-time monitoring. 

• Reduce response times by providing officers with actionable intelligence on the go. 

NEXYTE enables law enforcement to leverage and get more out of their existing public safety technology, by providing a unified view across all systems and tools, and actionable insights to accelerate investigations. 

Click here to learn more about decision intelligence and NEXYTE