A flood of post-9/11 money and advances in computing have given rise to an arsenal of new tools for law enforcement. The emerging focus isn’t on weapons or armaments, but on data. Axon, the Arizona-based police giant that started by making Tasers, wants to use its body cameras as the front-end to an automated, cloud-based ecosystem for police evidence and analytics. It’s only the most attention-getting company among a range of firms big and small now competing for millions of dollars in public contracts by disrupting the way cops do business. The pitch: Upgrade how police respond to emergencies, conduct surveillance, manage data, and improve their communications—both with each other and the public.
Related: How The Lucrative Fight To Put Cameras On Cops Is Changing The Way Police Work
Records Management
With investors like Jeff Bezos, Ashton Kutcher, and former CIA director David Petraeus, Mark43’s cloud-based software aims to update and consolidate aging records and dispatch systems. Seattle-based Socrata allows governments to run raw data through machine-learning programs that spit out easy-to-understand visualizations, maps, and graphs on everything from crime to transportation.
Cameras
Motorola Solutions, which has been making police walkie-talkies and radios for decades, is now investing in body cams (with built-in radios). Safariland, a police-equipment supplier, acquired camera-maker Vievu in 2015, and recently launched its own AI-enhanced video platform. Dozens of startups—including Utility, Digital Ally, and Wolfcom—have also released their own devices and software.
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