A much safer world is possible thanks to IoT

The police forces usually use reactive methods to stop the damage generated when a crime occurs. However, security measures are being transformed into more preventive actions by allowing them to predict where and how crimes will be committed.

The main novelty provided by these proactive methods, based on IoT software, is objectivity; because these technological solutions determine what events have happened, but not how they should be dealt with. Deciding how to act against crimes corresponds to the police and judicial institutions, which collect all this information that is being collected about the crimes that are occuring, who the victim was, where they have occurred or what type of crime has been committed.

Security measures are being transformed into more preventive actions

Through the digitalization of the data (Artificial Intelligence algorithms and the cloud) databases are being created that collect all this information. The patrols have managed to depict patterns of activity and adapt their surveillance actions according to the data and therefore offer a more effective service and stop the crime before it occurs.

Crime prevention methods through IoT

• Integrated video surveillance

The technology of integrated video surveillance allows a video analysis that collects information such as the density of a group, the number of people and the analysis of behaviors. The installation of these video surveillance devices in certain venues will help to collect data about the crimes in the places where they were committed and thus redirect the information to the police centers, which will mean a greater speed in the investigation process.

• ShotSpotter

ShotSpotter is a system of sensors that allows to delimit, in a range of three meters, the location of a shot of a firearm. This technology is based on employing acoustic and optical sensors, distributed geographically in an area, that detect a shot and send a signal to the police officers in order to turn the conflictive neighborhoods into much safer ones. This type of technology has already been implemented in more than 90 countries. Eddie Johnson, superintendent of Chicago, describes it as “the technology that has most helped reduce armed violence in the city of Chicago.”

• Panic button

One of the best known technologies in terms of IoT and security is the panic button, which consists of a button that when pressed it sends a signal to the police informing that the user is in danger. This device is integrated in many homes and is based on facilitating technology to users in dangerous situations.

There are also mobile phone companies, aimed at the senior population sector, who have decided to integrate a panic button on the devices themselves. Likewise, there are similar services aimed at guaranteeing the safety of minors. This is the case of Movistar Protege, which, in addition to monitoring the Internet activity of the children, has geolocation and a panic button to send, in case of emergency, a help request message indicating the exact location of the child.

• Facial recognition

The Japanese company NEC is a leader in integrating IoT and Artificial Intelligence with images captured by cameras and offers the most accurate and fastest facial recognition system in the world – according to the National Institute of Technology Standards of the United States (NIST). This type of technology is key to public safety, as it will allow to track critical places such as airports, ports or power plants and identify suspects in a much faster and more efficient way. The police corps of China and the United Kingdom already use special facial recognition glasses to check people’s faces against their criminal databases.

A safer world is possible thanks to IoT

The extension of all these solutions connected between the different police forces will be fundamental to strengthen public safety and the fight against crime, thus guaranteeing better spaces for people. A safer world is possible thanks to IoT.