How AI can help law enforcement agencies solve crimes faster

Content provided by Hexagon

By Bill Campbell

A crime analyst at a metro Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) stares into the glow of her three computer screens, looking for trends.

There’s no shortage of data available: She 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’s also the National Crime Information Center, internal databases on offenders and victims, electronic monitoring systems, facial recognition software, computer-aided dispatch data and social media.

How does she make sense of the deluge of data? The good news is that the burden isn’t all on her.

The use of artificial intelligence in LE

The RTIC’s common operating picture software, which pulls together all the data feeds, is equipped with an embedded assistive artificial intelligence capability.

While the analyst is combing through the incident reports, the AI running simultaneously in the background flags a pattern and sends the crime analyst a notification. In the last two days, five car thefts have occurred in her agency’s north district and in a neighboring jurisdiction.

The analyst zooms in on the crime scenes and searches for IoT devices in the area that might have captured video of the incidents. She opens a GIS layer to see the field of view of the cameras, helping her determine which camera is most useful.

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

Pros of Real-time intelligence 

Thanks to AI, an investigation that could take weeks or months can now be wrapped up in days.

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

With AI-powered RTIC software like HxGN Connect, users can bring together all their data and data supplied by their partners, and the assistive Smart Advisor AI can access it all, flag anomalies or trends and make proactive recommendations in real time, even messaging and tasking teams to act on the intel.

AI can also detect complex connections between more events sooner than contextual records searches and personal knowledge alone. That allows analysts to make assessments that are more efficient, effective and scalable than the manual monitoring of video, alarms and separate common operating pictures.

By uncovering critical connections earlier, AI can help prevent escalating incidents that could trigger other disruptive events. In turn, that helps agencies keep their communities and field personnel safe while working at a higher capacity and not overworking staff.

AI provides a second set of eyes, making sure users don’t miss critical connections. It can also take the pressure off new hires as they build knowledge about communities and events. AI also has a positive effect 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 the users decide what data to share and when, enabling more cross-jurisdictional cooperation and trust building.

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

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

About the author
Bill Campbell is the senior vice president of Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure and Geospatial division.