Page 68 - Security Today, May 2018

Building Safer Cities Examining the top benefits for security in metropolitan areas
BSy Alan Stoddard
afe City, or Smart City, proj- ects are rapidly becoming an ideal way to build an effective and proactive security strat- egy while allowing increased
collaboration between city officials, security leaders, law enforcement, and first responders. Close partnerships between these parties en- able cities to efficiently identify current threats while learning and analyzing data points to be best prepared to address future risks.
Safe City initiatives help cities achieve true situational awareness—both in regular times and during emergency situations—by aggregating a significant amount of data and turning it into actionable intelligence. The correlated information then enables officials to quickly and efficiently identify threats, manage emergency situations, and investi- gate incidents.
Citywide Data Analysis
Modern-day systems and sensors can span large geographic areas, and the ability to combine information from these once-siloed technologies allows cities to realize new lev- els of awareness while tapping into rich data sources to help ensure safety and optimize operations.
For example, operators can send a picture of a suspect from the surveillance video in high-risk areas directly to a patrol officer’s mobile device, who can then easily access the footage on his or her smart devices. Op- erators can also leverage geospatial location data to pinpoint the location of events and deliver this data to local agencies to optimize response and collaboration.
Innovative Detection
Techniques
How is situational awareness obtained? It’s through the combination of multiple pro- cesses, solutions, and technologies, while ag- gregating information from these sources to gain the most accurate information available about a situation at any given time.
Technology tools are a valuable compo- nent of building high levels of awareness and enhancing safety. Operators can lever- age security data to direct law enforcement to potential high-risk situations, mitigating the likelihood of potential violence in some cases. Surveillance analytics allow law en- forcement and security officials to quickly pinpoint when an individual breaches a protected area and can also be used in post-
event analysis to determine trends.
Efficient Data Management
By correlating data streams from audio, video, mapping, and other relevant systems into a single solution, cities can gain valuable information from captured data and ensure higher levels of safety for its residents.
When combined, multiple data points can establish trends and the possibility of further threats and outline accurate identification of suspects in various incidents. These solutions can help law enforcement agencies take ac- tion or investigate with higher efficiency and
effectiveness, and ensure the highest levels of security are maintained.
Communication
Command centers need to quickly dissemi- nate communications to help responders and citizens remain informed and aware. With mobile communications, cities can promptly and efficiently engage with the community, often issuing announcements and warnings via smart device applications.
Command-and-control centers can also in- terface with law enforcement, using real-time communications for efficient dispatch and dis-
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0518 | SECURITY TODAY
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
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