At the recent Major Cities Chiefs Association meeting New York, there was a lot of talk about NYPD’s sophisticated crime and terrorist nerve center, as well as its $80M price tag. Realistically, most communities don’t have the resources to create or manage such a system, so what are the options for everyone else? Hitachi Visualization provides many of the same capabilities on a scale that suits smaller organizations and is easy to deploy and manage. It can be the hub of an agency’s SMART Policing effort and grant opportunities can help make it happen without the Park Avenue budget. View this On-Demand Webinar to learn more.
Video Analytics Drives SMART Policing
The SMART Policing initiative emphasizes proactive policing with the goal of preventing crimes while also managing limited human and capital resources. It is intended to promote innovation as well as support areas where crime is on the rise. That’s why cameras are becoming a new set of “eyes” for law enforcement with proven results – many agencies already have them in place. And when combined with social media and all other sources of data, law enforcement has access to volumes of information that can unlock great potential – if they can ingest and correlate that data through video analytics software. Hitachi’s Visualization platform helps agencies get the most out of all the tools already in place and those that have yet to be implemented.
Why Invest in Video Analytics Software?
Part of the SMART initiative is focused on efficiency and doing more with less. This software helps provide full situational awareness on a single pane of glass, making it easy to make critical decisions in real-time. The possibilities allow agencies to layer video, weather and social media to create a heat map of likely crime areas as well as layer on facial recognition to identify criminals. With video analytics, all of this is practical, even with fewer people to do the work.
How to Choose a Good HVS Program
The key to the right system is flexibility and ease of access and use. Here’s a simple checklist:
- Open APIs – for maximum flexibility, the system should integrate with many different camera types and data sources
- Secure and cloud-based – easy to access and store data
- Single pane of glass – to simplify user interface and improve efficiency
- Scalable – to grow in size and functionality when and if you require it
How to Get the Grant
According to Samatha Dorm, Senior Grant Writing Manager for PoliceGrantsHelp, the key to the grant writing process is to start early, address the top five components of SMART Policing, and set up your grant to cover key points decision-makers want to know. Grants are given based on need, not the size of department, and plenty of small jurisdictions are awarded grants annually. Agencies can also bring together regional partners to get additional support and show the results of video analytics in other jurisdictions along with the potential funding available to support this investment.
Top 5 Components of SMART Policing
- Performance measurement and research partnerships
- Outreach and collaboration
- Managing organizational change
- Strategic targeting
- Making better use of intelligence and other data and information systems
Key Sections of a Great Grant Response
- The problem statement
- Project description
- Goals and objectives
- Evaluation plan
- Management plan
- Timelines
- Continuation plan
- Dissemination plan
The SMART Policing Initiative is designed to get behind law enforcement to make the best use of resources and intelligence to prevent and solve crimes while being smart on budgets, too. While most agencies don’t need a system as robust and time intensive as the NYPD, the functionality is well within reach with Hitachi Visualization Software and grants to fund that investment are waiting to hear your agency’s story.
To learn more about how ViON can help you identify the optimal system and secure grant funding, view this On-Demand Webinar or visit our website.