Why Law Enforcement Should Require Behavior Recognition and Anomaly Detection for Crime Prevention

We are living in times of social unrest, which has compelled law enforcement professionals to risk their lives in order to protect the life and property of millions of citizens. From monitoring protests to nabbing apprehending those committing crimes, there is so much that these agencies must do. With so much to be done, these agencies should examine the choice between recruiting more officers or deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies such as behavior recognition and anomaly detection to decrease crime.

Anomaly detection helps curb crime more efficiently, while also protecting the police officers from life-threatening situations. According to the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program (LEOKA), the US lost 46 officers in 2017, 56 officers in 2018, and 48 officers in 2019. In fact, up until now, 37 law enforcement officers have been brutally killed in 2020. Now that does not include the number of officers injured, while on duty.

There needs to be a massive change — one that can only be brought about by deploying cutting-edge technologies such as behavioral pattern recognition and threat anomaly detection.

What is Behavior Recognition and Anomaly Detection?

Behavior recognition and anomaly detection involve using complex algorithms within machines to make the machine intelligent enough to understand normal behavioral patterns. The machine is then trained to detect anomalies or unusual behavioral patterns and report them.

This involves analyzing data received from portable and stationary cameras through complex algorithms that fetch and transmit inconsistencies within milliseconds. This is essential because law enforcement professionals cannot be present everywhere at the same time. Intelligence is the key to successful responses. So, by cascading this task to machines, law enforcement professionals can increase their efficiency by focusing only on critical aspects and loss prevention.

Scylla’s Anomaly Detection System is a real-time threat detection and loss prevention solution that can identify behavioral patterns, detect suspects, and even escalate and report threats to the concerned authorities. This is possible and occurs from the data collected through the surveillance cameras.

Patrolling made easier

Currently, the US has over 665,000 patrol officers to patrol 3.79 million square miles, and that explains how difficult it is for law enforcement agencies to track crime indicators. Therefore, deploying technologies such as smart suspect identification, preventive threat detection, and behavior pattern recognition would assist in bringing down the crime rate. Personnel can then shift their focus to the anomalies reported and plan necessary preventive or curative measures. So, instead of hiring more patrolling officers, law enforcement agencies can dedicate those resources elsewhere.

Preventive Threat Detection

According to a survey, the US has the highest number of people who own guns. This correlates directly to the number of gun violence incidents that occur. Therefore, while gun law reforms are yet to take place, there needs to be an alternative solution to curb this problem of gun violence. After all, the only way to truly serve society would be to stop a crime before it happens. Now, this might seem far-fetched but is entirely possible by training machines to identify and detect patterns that are indicative of a threat.

Since most places already have cameras and video management systems installed, making use of AI surveillance solutions such as preventive gun detection technology can give law enforcement agencies a head start. So, every time someone with a gun or a dangerous weapon is spotted, a notification is sent out to those in charge of keeping that particular zone secure. This shifts the law enforcements focus on preventing crimes rather than detecting them, which often requires more time and resources. Scylla provides companies with intelligence and insight to observe and identify guns and dangerous objects prior to the intent of their use. Since most places already have cameras and video management systems installed, making use of AI surveillance solutions such as gun detection technology can give law enforcement agencies a head start. So, every time someone with a gun or a dangerous weapon is spotted, a notification is sent out to those in charge of keeping that particular zone secure. Scylla provides companies with intelligence and insight to observe and identify guns and dangerous objects in real-time or forensically. AI surveillance technology can make a significant impact on lives of citizens in everyday life.

Now, these are just a few ways in which behavior recognition and anomaly detection can help prevent crimes. In addition to that, these technologies also equip law enforcement personnel to respond to potentially dangerous situations in an informed manner.

At present, the biggest challenge faced by US Law enforcement agencies is to do more with fewer officers and resources. This Herculean task can be simplified by deploying advanced technologies such as behavior recognition and anomaly detection through Scylla.