Today wraps Police Week on Capitol Hill where lawmakers and law enforcement come together with the shared goal of supporting the men and women who keep us safe. But there is another constituency increasingly playing a massive role: technologists. Here are two companies that are making that happen.
FLOCK SAFETY
We chatted with Flock Safety’s Chief Communications Officer, Josh Thomas about the company and their significant and growing contribution to public safety. Best known for their automated license plate reader (ALPR), Flock is on the leading edge of solving and preventing crimes.
What is Flock Safety?
- “We have hardware and software – including drones and a litany of sensors (most notably the license plate readers) that we build and manufacture right here in America needed to solve and stop crime.”
Flock at Work.
- Flock Safety operates in 5,000 cities and is involved in 10% of solved crimes.
- The technology has helped provide the evidence to recover over 1,000 missing people – and that is just what has been publicly reported.
- Flock’s license plate readers outside of Mar-a-Lago identified the vehicle of the second attempted assassin of President Trump, and police caught him right away.
- In Roswell, GA, a report came in about a potentially armed suspect who had driven to a nearby town. A drone was launched immediately, located the vehicle, and tracked the suspect on foot using details like a neck tattoo. From 400 feet up, the drone confirmed his identity and guided police to make a safe, incident-free arrest. The suspect was carrying a loaded weapon.
Law Enforcement Impact.
- “A lot of cities are experiencing a harder climate for law enforcement. It’s harder to hire and retain people. And relative to the risk that a lot of law enforcement officers are undertaking, the pay can be challenging. It’s just tough to recruit in the same way that it used to be. And so we think there’s an opportunity here for technology to fill in the gap.”
- “I just visited a very small Police Department in Texas, but the town is fast growing, and they have one detective total. When asked about resource and staffing needs he said ‘I want more flock technology because it makes my job significantly easier.’”
- “From chiefs you hear – and this is a very nice compliment – that this is the greatest invention since DNA.”
PREPARED
We also spoke with the company, Prepared who builds AI-powered tools tailored to emergency responders, helping them save lives by improving outcomes when every second counts. Here’s how they described their work to us.
“America’s emergency response professionals deserve best-in-class solutions to critical operational challenges that place undue burden on staff capacity and impact communities. Prepared’s Assistive AI is designed to supplement that capacity, supercharging the incredible work of the heroes of public safety and driving innovation with a forward-thinking, customer-centric, collaborative approach to building new technology. This approach ensures that American communities are served by the best technology, not just the best technology available to them.
“Our platform streamlines emergency response from end-to-end, starting before a 911 call even arrives and extending long after field responders have been dispatched.
- Automatically triaging non-emergent calls to free up personnel to respond to the most critical emergencies.
- Allowing call-takers to leverage the power of next-generation media, text, and translation, helping dispatchers find the calm in the chaos of numerous radio channels.
- Ensuring agency leaders can better train & retain staff.
“Since public launch in 2021, we’ve partnered with over 1,000 public safety agencies in 49 states that protect over 90 million Americans, including Nashville, Baltimore, and El Paso. Our technology has been used to protect officers & victims during domestic incidents, help coordinate a volcano eruption response, rescue 14 people stranded on an ice floe, save lives using CPR, deliver babies, help solve murder investigations, rescue stranded climbers, and so, so much more.
“The real insight into why it all works—and how—comes from the people using it every day.”
