ShotSpotter, a leader in gunshot detection solutions, and a competitor in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program is moving into the AI-driven analysis and predictive policing sectors with the company’s acquisition of the HunchLab technology and related assets from Azavea, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based firm.
HunchLab applies risk modeling and artificial intelligence to help forecast when and where crimes are likely to emerge and recommends specific patrol missions and tactics that can deter these events.
Based on the HunchLab platform, ShotSpotter Missions is a proactive patrol management solution that goes beyond traditional hotspot modeling and builds upon the experiential knowledge of patrol officers.
(ShotSpotter Missions, (formerly HunchLab) provides precise evidence-based recommendations of where police departments should focus resources to best fight crime. It’s the future of predictive policing. Courtesy of SpotSpotter and YouTube.)
Missions: A More Efficient Way to Deploy Resources
In addition to historical crime data, it uses current and future indicators that are run through advanced statistical models and machine learning to forecast potential crime incidents based on specific locations and times.
It analyzes factors such as seasonality, time of day, day of week, trends in socioeconomic conditions and upcoming events to create a risk analysis that helps inform patrol missions by shift.
The application breaks a city into 250 square-meter “cells” and gives guidance on when to patrol that cell, what crime type is likely to occur, and what patrol tactics to use.
Officers no longer must be in an area hour after hour to have effective deterrence.
“The HunchLab technology provides a proven, high-value, and complementary solution we can immediately offer to our existing law enforcement customers,” explains Ralph A. Clark, President and CEO of ShotSpotter.
“We believe our investment will democratize the sharing of important intelligence with patrol officers who currently have limited direct access to crime analysts.”
“ShotSpotter Missions provides officers in the field with their own personal virtual crime analyst to plan the most strategic and efficient patrol missions in an effort to reduce crime.”
Missions
Predictive Missions (For Command + Officers)
ShotSpotter Missions is used by patrol officers to identify areas of high risk for proactive patrol.
But it’s not about saturating these areas with officers every day.
These focus areas are designed to change each shift to reflect the changing landscape of risk and to meter out the dosage of patrol activities to help mitigate areas from being over-policed.
Mission areas are also designed to automatically focus on the right crimes.
The system knows how important it is to prevent an aggravated assault versus a burglary based upon the weights that are set.
These settings enable the system to reflect the values of the local community and provide a way for police departments to be more transparent about how day-to-day patrols are decided.
Advisor (For Analysts + Command)
Working with command staff, analysts can determine the efficacy of new strategies. Advisor utilizes modern statistical methods to make experimentation and evaluation simpler and faster.
For instance, the adaptive tactics component in Advisor uses Bayesian statistics to recommend tactics on-the-fly. Tactic recommendations are then displayed online and in PDFs.
Departments can more easily adopt evidence-based approaches to combating crime.
While software can do much to help focus your efforts, the meaningful tactics that you employ within these high risk areas are what really make the difference.
SideKick
By using the GPS location pulled from an MDT, smartphone, or tablet, ShotSpotter Missions pushes valuable contextual information to officers in the field.
The forecasted risk of each crime type is displayed no matter where the unit is located within the jurisdiction.
The Chicago Police Department uses both ShotSpotter and HunchLab to fight crime – and are the largest customer for each product.
“We selected the HunchLab product, which is now ShotSpotter Missions, as a component of our Department’s innovative smarter policing technology platform,” said Jonathan Lewin, Chief of Technical Services for the Chicago Police Department.
“We are in the process of rolling out the technology more broadly in Chicago within our Strategic Decision Support Centers to help us deploy patrol resources in the most efficient and effective manner.”
“Precision-policing products represent a new era in law enforcement that will provide more specific and objective data to help prevent crime,” said William J. Bratton, former NYPD and LAPD Commissioner and current ShotSpotter Board member.
“I’ve seen the evolution of intelligence-based tools over the years and I think the combination of HunchLab with ShotSpotter will accelerate the maturation of the category and result in even greater value to police departments.”
ShotSpotter plans to integrate Missions with gunfire data to enable it to update predictive models and patrol missions in real time.
The application will be offered as an add-on product to the company’s gunfire detection solution, as well as a stand-alone application.
Along with the acquisition, the company plans to invest in additional data science and development resources to continually improve the product as well as advance the use of AI technology to help make existing and new products better.
(ShotSpotter can now home in on the location of gunfire while simultaneously a second computer system turns on the largest network of surveillance cameras in the country to help locate and search for suspects and victims. Courtesy of ShotSpotter and YouTube.)
Additional information on the acquisition will be available on ShotSpotter’s regular third quarter earnings call, which is scheduled to take place after market close on November 13, 2018.
ShotSpotter Competes in 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
AST focuses on Homeland Security and Public Safety Breaking News, the Newest Initiatives and Hottest Technologies in Physical & IT Security, essential to meeting today’s growing security challenges.
The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of Physical, IT, Port Security, Law Enforcement, Border Security, First Responders, (Fire, EMT, Military, Support Services Vets, SBA, Medical Tech) as well as the Federal, State, County and Municipal Government Agencies – to acknowledge their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
As an ‘ASTORS’ competitor, ShotSpotter will be competing against the industry’s leading providers of Innovative Gunshot Detection Solutions.
To Learn More about the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, see 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners Honored at ISC East.
Over 100 distinguished guests from National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Executives from companies allied to Government, gathered from across North America and the Middle East to be honored from disciplines across the Security Industry in their respective fields which included representatives from:
- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- The Department of Justice
- The Security Exchange Commission
- State and Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- Leaders in Private Security
The highlight of the 2018 AST Homeland Security Awards Season will be the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon to honor Nominees, Finalists and Winners on November 14, 2018 at ISC East 2018 at the Jacob Javits Exhibition Center in New York City.
Good luck to ShotSpotter on becoming a Winner of the 2018 American Security Today’s Homeland Security Awards Program!
To Learn More about the Shotspotter Gunshot Detection System or New ShotSpotter Missions, please visit http://www.shotspotter.com/.
Join us in Recognizing these Industry-Leading Firms for their Outstanding Product Development Achievements, Exciting New Technologies and Innovative Education Programs to address the growing Homeland Security Threats our Nation is facing.
Take advantage of this exclusive luncheon opportunity to Invite your Guests, Clients and Show Visitors to a lovely & affordable plated meal event in the heart of New York City, for a Fabulous Networking Opportunity!
ISC East is the Northeast’s largest security industry event and your ‘ASTORS’ Awards Luncheon registration includes complimentary attendee access to the show.
Already Exhibiting and/or Attending the 2018 ISC East Conference?
Join us to meet the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Award Winning Company Executives & Government Agency Representatives.
Register today for the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Luncheon on November 14th, in New York City and give yourself & your clients a break from the show!
Gourmet luncheon choices available per person, or reserve a table – make an Impression on your Guests and Receive an Exclusive Discount Opportunity.
To Learn More about the AST 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program and Luncheon, please contact Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at: mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com or call 732.233.8119 (mobile) or 646-450-6027.
