IACP 2019 Highlights

Every year since 1893, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) organization holds the IACP Conference, the largest law enforcement conference.  Public safety professionals gather to learn about the latest in innovative technologies, be educated on industry trends, network with other departments and attend trainings to equip their departments will the right skills for success.  

Whether you weren’t able to attend the show, or simply need a highlight reel, here are our top takeaways:

The President’s support.

“To all of the terrific law enforcement officers here today: Thank you for your unwavering courage and your unbreakable devotion. Today and every day, I vow to stand proudly, loyally, and faithfully with the incredible men and women in blue.”

President Trump showed his support and dedication to law enforcement during his speech.  He touched on a variety of topics including crime statistics and announced the executive order to establish a new Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. 

The future of LPR.

When LPR technology was first introduced, it quickly found its niche in aiding law enforcement in lead generations during investigations.  It’s now advancing investigations further with a number of new approaches to LPR, beyond the traditional offerings from original vendors.  New vendors are shaking up the marketplace and bringing innovation and excitement to a category that needs it.  We took the opportunity to explore a number of these new innovative platforms.

Visual operations.

Visual operations platforms are a trending technology that departments are utilizing to achieve instant situation awareness across a city.  Live Earth, a visual operations platform, provides departments with real-time information and insights from desperate feeds integrated into one single and interactive view.  When real-time crime centers utilize a solution like Live Earth, they are able to better manage large events, strategically react in active events, and perform post-event recreation for further analysis.

AI in LE.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has officially landed and made its mark within law enforcement.  Instantly, it’s shown enhancements to investigations, most notably for web intelligence.  Since the explosion of the digital age, law enforcement has been lacking the proper tools to investigate and coalesce information from different areas of the web. New technology from Cobwebs equips departments with the ability to investigate the open, deep and dark webs.  From social media, blogs, apps, news articles and more, take investigations further than ever before. 

Drones.

Drones are wildly adopted in law enforcement and the use cases continue to expand.  But the defense against drones is an emerging market essential for corrections departments, large venue security and others.  Many of the solution offerings today interfere with the flight of the drone, which is against FAA regulations.  However, AeroDefense has released an innovative platform to detect rogue drones and identify the pilot’s location for apprehension.

Evolving high-tech mobile workspaces.

In-vehicle technologies are continuing to see innovation.  From nothing but a basic two-way radio to vehicles now being equipped with a vast array of tools to support an officer’s duties. 

In-car video.

Video continues to make an impact in the law enforcement space as valuable evidence assets.  In-car cameras are small, discreet and record in dark lighting with wide angles ensuring all activity is recorded.  Body-worn cameras provide out-of-car evidence and are smaller than a deck of cards. Capture situational awareness with features such as automatic triggering, audio recording, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Today, video consolidation technology helps manage the video content to help support the flow of a case.  It provides the power to combine footage from in-car video, body-worn cameras and interview rooms into a single evidence file.

MDTs of the future.

MDT vendors are offering many different platforms to meet the unique preferences and requirements of departments.  Tablets, laptops and convertibles provide officers with flexibility to be on-the-go with their device.  Various screen sizes, rugged options and additional innovative features (such as scanners, readers and integrated communication) allows for a tailored device to match officers’ needs and assignments.

Connecting it all together.

Fully maximize video and computing with the proper communications and connectivity from FirstNet and Band 14.  FirstNet is a public safety-specific network ensuring a reliable and secure platform enabling departments with constant connection allowing them to share information quickly. Whether it’s syncing files or communicating with dispatch, staying connected isn’t important just for efficiency, but also ensures officer safety. 

Law enforcement and public safety departments are in a pivotal moment in regard to utilizing technology to its advantage during investigations and day-to-day operations of keeping communities and officers safe.  If your department is interested in learning more, give us a call and we can introduce you to one of the nationwide reps to assist in helping you make all the pieces of your solution work together.