Microsoft and partners showcase cloud-enabled solutions for law enforcement at IACP 2016

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Monday at the 123rd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police conference and exposition in San Diego, Microsoft Corp. and its partners showcased innovative solutions that demonstrate how the cloud and modern Windows devices are transforming the way law enforcement engages with citizens, improves communities and enables more effective first response.

Microsoft has the largest compliance portfolio in the industry, and is committed to providing law enforcement, public safety and justice organizations with cloud services they can trust. To date, nearly 6 million users in all 50 states and federal government agencies use Microsoft Cloud for Government, which is specifically designed for use by U.S. government customers.

Compliance is a commitment, not a checkbox. As of today, Microsoft commits to the applicable Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) controls and has signed CJIS agreements in 23 states. Microsoft supports law enforcement agencies across the country to take advantage of Microsoft Azure Government for sensitive and mission-critical law enforcement needs, helping customers and partners increase security while reducing the cost of compliance. In addition, Microsoft is the first hyper-scale cloud provider to achieve ISO 22301 certification, which ensures that Microsoft Azure applications are backed by the highest government standards for business continuity and disaster preparedness.

"Government and law enforcement agencies across the United States are turning to Azure Government for the end-to-end cloud solution they can trust, for the security and compliance they require," said Michael Donlan, vice president, U.S. state and local government for Microsoft. "Our cloud powers real-time, intelligence-led, first-response capabilities that enable law enforcement to do more, and achieve more, for the citizens they serve — today and into the future."

Genetec Inc. uses Azure to provide real-time video streaming, cataloguing and storage for its cloud-based video surveillance-as-a-service (VSaaS), Stratocast. In January, the Detroit Police Department (DPD) launched a new program called Project Green Light, an effort to reduce violent crime in the city. Over an eight-month period, dozens of local businesses were equipped with Genetec's high-resolution indoor and outdoor surveillance cameras, and video feeds managed by Genetec Stratocast were streamed live back to DPD headquarters. The data was stored using Azure. When a 911 call was received from a participating location, police inside the Real Time Crime Center could instantly pull video from the location's cameras to begin evidence-gathering and send pertinent information, such as suspect description, to responding officers. In September, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced that Project Green Light has led to a 50 percent reduction in violent crime at stores, gas stations and other businesses that have installed the systems.

"The cloud-based technology has made it possible for us to instantly access surveillance video, which allows us to respond faster than ever before to robberies and potential violent crimes," said Chief James Craig, Detroit Police Department. "In one situation we were able to catch a suspect in just two hours because we had that real-time access and strong, actionable intelligence when we arrived on the scene."

Predictive policing solution provider PredPol chose Azure Government for its high level of compliance, security and exceptional support of international customers that require local datacenters. PredPol's cloud-based solution uses a unique algorithm to predict places and times where crimes are most likely to occur, based on criminal behavior patterns and three key historical data points: type of crime, place of crime, and date and time of crime. PredPol maps are automatically generated for each police shift to help officers focus on areas where they have the best opportunities to prevent crimes from occurring. Officers in departments around the world are using PredPol to help prevent crime, in some cases reducing targeted crimes by double-digit percentages.

At IACP, PredPol announced that the Mountain View Police Department has deployed the solution on the Azure Government cloud platform. "We chose PredPol and the Azure Government cloud platform because of PredPol's proven results and Microsoft's long track record supporting secure solutions for law enforcement," said Max Bosel, chief of police of the Mountain View Police Department in California. "We are confident that meeting future policy requirements will be seamless."

Demonstrating at IACP what's possible today, the Microsoft patrol car is equipped with industry partner solutions built on the intelligence-led first response platform, effectively making it a "mobile precinct." First introduced at IACP 2015, the updated patrol car is outfitted to showcase Windows 10 software and devices, as well as new technologies focused on creating two-way, real-time communication between officers, records management, command staff and the public, using Azure. The patrol car includes solutions — all of which are available today — that help break down information silos in law enforcement, ensure compliance, and bring essential, actionable data into the hands of first responders in real time. This year, some of the technologies featured in the Microsoft patrol car include the following:

• Drones for situational awareness. The Aeryon SkyRanger drone and AeryonLive, a web-based application, allow real-time video to be streamed from drone-mounted cameras, providing up-to-the-minute situational awareness both to officers on the ground and commanders located anywhere with internet access.
• 360-degree video and analytics. The Getac Veretos Mobile Video System is an in-car video recording system used to capture all activities in and around the law enforcement vehicle as they occur, including up to 360-degree video coverage. With Veretos Cloud, Getac's Evidence Management solution enables all-digital videos or images captured from in-car, body-worn or other police cameras to be uploaded to Azure Government for browsing and sharing via a web browser. This includes robust metadata management and analysis tools, providing command with a proactive approach to policing.
• Robots for reconnaissance. A small, lightweight but powerful robot from ReconRobotics Inc. can be easily deployed and remotely controlled by patrol officers to provide real-time information to decision-makers.
• Live video streaming. With technology from Dejero Labs Inc., live video from body-worn and in-car cameras, drones, and robots can be streamed to any authorized individual anywhere with an internet connection.
• Body-worn video camera solutions. These solutions are typically utilized by law enforcement to record their interactions with the public or gather video evidence at crime scenes. Body-worn cameras in the patrol car include those created by Getac Veretos, Taser/AXON, VIEVU LLC and others.

These Microsoft and partner solutions, law enforcement stories, and more will be shared at IACP. Microsoft will present sessions titled, "Cloud Best Practices for Law Enforcement," "Leveraging Modern Technology for Better Incident Response," and, together with partners and law enforcement customers, "Transforming Communities Through Intelligence-Led Policing." More details on Azure Government can be found by checking the facts at Microsoft in Government.

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.