Less funding, fewer staff, higher expectations, and increasingly complex tasks. Police, fire and EMS personnel are being asked to do more with less support, reducing time spent towards building trust with the communities they serve and increasing the stress and burnout they experience.
“First responders have one of the hardest jobs imaginable, yet technology has not evolved to support them in making informed decisions that foster accountability and safer incident resolutions,” said Steve Seoane, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Local Government. “While technologies such as cloud computing, AI, computer vision, and multimodal voice and screen driven assistance are dramatically increasing efficiency, productivity, and outcomes in industries from healthcare to banking, these innovations are just making their way into the public safety market—and they can’t come soon enough for over-taxed agencies.”
When police, dispatch centers, fire and EMA are better equipped with more automated, intelligent, integrated systems—including cloud-based software, hardware, and video—they can remove data silos and busy work that slows response and delays resolutions. Most critically, better tools empower first responders with real-time information, command center support, and situational awareness to help them make more objective decisions when every second counts. Here are four technologies within the Oracle Public Safety Suite that help agencies address their unique, evolving public safety needs:
AI-Assisted Response
Generative AI (GenAI) is more than a tech buzzword. AI has been battle-tested in even the most stringent and regulated industries, such as helping banks identify and thwart financial crime. In public safety, we use AI analytics within dispatch command center, records management, and other systems, allowing agencies to better anticipate incidents, optimize resources, and respond more efficiently.
For example, computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, used by emergency call management and command center operators to help speed data entry and accelerate dispatch can utilize AI. AI-driven tools within an enhanced CAD system processes vast amounts of data to help provide real-time insights to improve decision-making and safety outcomes. In CAD, AI works to auto-populate 911 call information, identify and merge duplicate calls, provide “next word” text suggestions, and verify an incident location in a blended map view. Built-in intelligence tools designed to provide critical information about the location and other factors help enable more informed, effective responses. Known location insights, including prior instances of a weapon or an aggressive dog at the residence, keep officers informed and responses effective.
AI also has a positive impact on traditional, time-intensive case reporting. One of the major challenges for officers is the vast amount of information and data that needs to be collected and organized after an event. Often, these time-consuming reports are being done at the end of a long day, leading to burnout and taking away from time spent in the community.
Systems can combine structured questions that an officer answered, with the data collected from the CAD system and body worn cameras during an event, to create an AI-generated first draft of a narrative. The officer can then read the draft, edit the information if necessary, add details, and submit the report. Dramatically more accurate, substantially faster.
For one police department in Texas, these kinds of connected systems are helping officers move seamlessly between locations and devices, such as going from a mobile phone to a tablet in the squad car, while continuing to send and receive information without disruption. The communications systems activate upon dispatch and record data and interactions between the peace officers, students, and staff to support transparency, trust, and accountability. This information is then automatically pulled into a case report that officers can review and update—helping to save them time spent on paperwork daily and enabling them to spend more time out in the field.
In-vehicle, interactive displays
Touch-talk-listen tablet applications redefine the in-car experience by providing officers more focused, actionable data ‘at-a-glance’ before going into a situation. Instead of overwhelming, unclear and unintuitive old school systems, an officer can use a 12-inch glanceable screen to receive key information in a clear format.
The officer can interact with their tablet by simple single taps or by voice. With these single actions they have access to key information from dispatch, navigation details, and field-based interactions between first responders and the command center. Responders can pull up complete records searches and case reporting and view a fully interactive map for better visibility into all other incidents and units in the area, all with a few touches.
After an incident, an officer can immediately access the body worn camera video on their in vehicle tablet, which can be submitted with his or her case report. They can submit this video and all relevant case files to the precinct and district attorney's office for further case evaluation.
Always-on Video
Law enforcement chiefs and supervisors can't respond in real time to a critical event if they have to wait for a video to download. In response, wearable computer systems enable real-time video on an officer via cell signal the entire shift. Officer-worn communications and camera systems can activate automatically upon dispatch and record interactions between law enforcement and community members to support transparency, trust, and accountability.
Streaming and connectivity capabilities also enable agencies to provide video line-of-sight to a team member at a remote location, such as a command center, to give on-scene responders more guidance and support as an event is unfolding.
“Time is not a luxury first responders have in a rapidly unfolding emergency situation,” added Seoane. “Modern systems must make the on-scene experience less isolating and emotionally charged by enabling responders to act as a blended team with someone monitoring the situation remotely. With this approach, on-site officers gain support and guidance that can change the course of a dangerous incident by helping reduce risk, and hopefully increasing the likelihood of a more constructive resolution for everyone involved.”
Automation
Just like video and communication systems, records management systems need to provide real-time curation of all the data sources as part of an overall system. This includes everything that is stored in a local database, all the third-party database queries, everything that came in on the 911 call, and the video of the scene. Cloud-based records management systems can make all this information immediately available to the officer in the car at the close of that incident. All information is accessible on the officer’s tablet, and all they have to do is complete the case report. Similar automation is used in jail and holding-facility management systems designed to eliminate data re-entry and enable more efficient, secure processes from pre-booking to transfer or release.
By embracing AI, actionable data, video, automation, and other technology innovations, law enforcement agencies and first responders can truly help transform how they serve their communities. However, as with all crucial decisions, decision makers must ensure that technologies are delivered through a secure, integrated, and practical approach. By doing so, agencies build confidence with first responders and their support personnel, all while strengthening public trust.
For more information, visit Oracle Public Safety.
