Smart, Safe Cities: GE’s Smart Streetlights to Include Gunshot Detection

Written by KOVA Corp

 

When people talk about the next big thing in public safety, “smart cities” is a term that inevitably comes up. The idea behind the smart cities movement is that by utilizing technology and data, we can create cities that are sustainable, healthy, and safe—in other words, cities built for the next generation and beyond.

Smart cities advocates are developing lots of innovations in the sphere. One of those is situation management software, like our Nextiva Physical Security Management system or the Verint SMC system.

By integrating data from many different sensors, this kind of software allows for better contextualizing of security data, and therefore a smarter, more efficient response.

Another recent development is smart streetlights. Developed by GE, smart streetlights are designed to do a lot more than just generate light. For one thing, they feature highly-efficient LED light bulbs that can last up to 20 years and save 50 to 70 percent of the electricity used by a standard streetlight.

Not only are they much better for the environment, but they can save cities huge amounts of money on electricity bills. This is an important feature, as over the past decade, some cities have resorted to simply turning their streetlights off, in order to save money. Efficient streetlights could therefore mean safer streets.

That’s just the beginning of what smart streetlights can offer, however. The lights come equipped with a series of sensors that can detect environmental conditions like light and weather, so the light can dim or brighten, and turn on and off as needed. They also are equipped with video so they can record and report traffic violations or accidents. The data can then be used to enhance public safety initiatives.

But perhaps the most important feature of these smart streetlights is the fact that cities that use them have access to GE’s Predix internet of things platform. Developers can then use the platform to create apps based on the data that the streetlights collect. The apps could be different for each city—it all depends on what each government wants and needs.

Now, there’s a new technology that’s being integrated with the smart streetlights in order to reduce crime. Called ShotSpotter, this system recognizes the sound of gunfire, pinpoints the exact location of the shots, and analyzes the shots, sending all the information to local law enforcement and PSAPs in less than a minute.

Currently, ShotSpotter is actively used or contracted to deploy in 90 cities across the country, including New Haven, CT; Oakland, CA; San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

The technology can also be used to keep schools and colleges safer—one San Francisco high school deployed ShotSpotter on its campus this fall, with the hopes, of course, that the system will never go off.

The integration of ShotSpotter into the smart streetlights will enhance functionality for both the streetlights and for ShotSpotter. The most typical use of ShotSpotter on its own involves placing sensors in areas of high gun violence, rather than covering an entire city. This is primarily due to the cost of deploying the system.

By integrating the system into the streetlights however, entire cities can be covered without incurring that full cost. ShotSpotter and the smart streetlights can share the hardware that comes with the streetlights, so all that needs to be added is some ShotSpotter software and inexpensive microphones. This will make it much easier for cities that want to use ShotSpotter to cover as many square miles as they want, rather than just focusing on problem neighborhoods.

KOVA is proud to be a part of the movement toward smarter, safer cities, by providing PSAPs and public safety organizations with the software they need to collect, analyze, and distribute data more efficiently.

Technology like ShotSpotter are typically stands alone, but can be much more valuable when integrated into all of the data solutions you already have. Our Situational Awareness Platform can tie ALL of your solutions together into one interface that can be driven by Standard Operating Procedures you set so incidents are handled easily with little room for error.

Our public safety solutions can also help your organization improve communications (Impact 360 for Public Safety); upgrade to Next Generation 9-1-1 standards (Audiolog for Public Safety); and improve your emergency alert notification system (KEANS Services). Contact us today!

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