Sidebar: Technology as a Force Multiplier
Photo by West Midlands Police (CC BY-SA 2.0)
By David Cuadro
Recently, the political winds in San Francisco have shifted and many elected officials now support hiring more police officers to address our city’s public safety crisis. With a mere twelve graduates in the most recent academy class, though, is it realistic for San Franciscans to expect a fully staffed police department anytime soon? No.
Innovation is one way for us to bridge the resource gap. With the right tools, each SFPD officer can get more done, a benefit that will carry over as the department recovers from its staffing challenges. You can think of these tools as “force multipliers” that will allow a department of 1,500 officers to have the impact of a much larger one.
High Speed Pursuit Alternatives. Vehicle or handheld mounted GPS trackers like the one developed by StarChase can enable an officer to follow a suspect’s vehicle without high speed pursuit. Vehicle theft, catalytic converter theft, and smash-and-grabs are everyday occurrences in San Francisco. Like many other departments, SFPD instructs its officers not to chase vehicles fleeing from property crimes because of safety concerns. But departments in Alameda and San Mateo counties have provided their officers with alternatives like Starchase. Why don’t we?
eCitations and Mobile Printing. Mobile printing of tickets from an officer’s patrol car can reduce the time spent on administrative tasks. An officer can scan the barcode on your ID and pre-populate your information on a ticket printed in the patrol car. This kind of streamlined process also helps eliminate human error. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, SFPD has been issuing just 10 traffic tickets per day lately. A town outside of Kansas City implemented mobile ticketing and saw its officer’s average time spent on issuing traffic citations reduced from 20 minutes to less than five. We should do the same.
Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR). In any crime that involves a vehicle, the police will be looking for license plate information. In San Jose, ALPR technology recently helped police identify a hit-and-run suspect who killed a mother walking with her child. We should put a license plate reader on every patrol car and allow this technology that is already used for toll collection on the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bride to help us catch criminals.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. A birds-eye view provides tactical advantages for search and rescue efforts, crowd control, hostage situations, and the pursuit of fleeing suspects. SFPD got rid of its last helicopter unit in the early 2000s after a crash killed two officers and today calls on the California Highway Patrol when it needs aerial support. Today, however, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can provide most of those services for less money and at lower risk. New York City, one of the safest big cities in America, has successfully been using UAVs since 2018.
Smart Cruisers. A large number of SFPD’s patrol vehicles are Ford Crown Victorias, which were first introduced and brought into production in 1991. The Internet of Things is changing law enforcement and enabling smart patrol vehicles to become mobile command centers. Voice command technology similar to Siri can allow officers to run a license plate through their ALPR, turn on a siren, or even assist with filing reports.
In addition to acting as “force multipliers,” these technologies would also help with recruiting. People looking for jobs in many industries – including public safety – care about the hardware and software tools they will be given to get things done. Coupling competitive pay with excellent tools will help us recruit more officers and retain them longer. Most importantly, it will lead to better public safety outcomes for San Francisco.
