SurveillanceNYPD, Microsoft develop and deploy new surveillance system

The New York Police Department (NYPD) and Microsoft have teamed up to create the Domain Awareness System, which will analyze real-time safety data for use by NYPD investigators.

NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference last Wednesday that the system will act as a communications hub which will allow a number of advanced counterterrorism systems to relay information to more than 1,000 people in the field.

“The technology being used here can also play an important role in fighting everyday crime,” Bloomberg said.

PCMag reports that the Domain Awareness System was originally built to combat larger acts of terrorism, using real-time alerting, investigative support, and crime analysis.

The system uses 3,000 cameras currently placed in lower and Midtown Manhattan; more cameras will be placed in the other boroughs. The cameras can tap into the NYPD’s radiation sensors and license plate readers as well as crime records, 911 calls, video footage, and more to help solve and prevent crimes.  This process will help generate and refine idea, identify patterns, and deploy the necessary manpower police commissioner Raymond Kelly said during the press conference.

“We realized that we had the opportunity to create a powerful system to help combat both terrorism and conventional crime, city-wide,” Kelly said.

Microsoft will serve as the technical and engineering support on the project, while NYPD personnel will continue to help developing and making the system more efficient for their own needs.

“This system was developed by police officers for police officers,” Kelly said during Wednesday’s press conference.

This system is more advanced than anything the NYPD currently uses. Detectives and officers on the street will be able to rely on real-time alerts and specific details that will help officers solve and prevent crimes faster. The system will also allow for investigations to be aided with immediate results including arrest record, warrants, complaints, parking tickets and even citations.

Commissioner Kelly is very excited at the potential the system has to go back and see exactly where a crime took place.

“This certainly improves efficiency,” Bloomberg added.

The system could make its way around the country and potentially the world, the mayor indicated, saying that there is a possibility for the NYPD to develop and market systems like this to other cities globally.

Microsoft is in it for the long haul as well. The company’s vice president of American services, Lt. Gen. Mike McDuffy, made the assurance Wednesday that Microsoft is deeply committed to taking this initiative to another level.

The city’s partnership with Microsoft could also bring in revenue as, according to Bloomberg, the city will receive 30 percent of all profits made on future sales of the domain system, and thought it may not make a big impact when mixed into the NYPD’s $8.5 billion operating budget, that has not stopped the mayor from being excited about the potential of making money off the new system.

“I think we can recoup all of our expenses, and maybe even make a few bucks,” the mayor said.