A Day in The Life: Officers Using Ekin Patrol G2 in the Field
It’s reassuring for the public to have officers on patrol, but communities also need law enforcement to be where they can have the most impact. Whether that’s supporting cities and municipalities or developing crime reduction strategies. Previously, this would have meant increasing resources and therefore costs. However, new technology means there’s now a modern alternative: Ekin Patrol G2.
This blog explores how the world's first and only mobile smart patrol system is helping law enforcement in the field.
Policing: Solving traditional challenges with modern solutions
Ekin Patrol G2 is a flexible, modular, AI-powered bar that attaches to vehicles. This flexibility offers law enforcement and traffic management without relying on fixed infrastructure. And it solves many of the challenges with traditional forms of policing.
High manual effort
Officers and patrols are regularly tasked with observing risks and stopping violations at ground level. This method uses up valuable resources that could be deployed elsewhere. What’s more, it relies on officers or members of the public being in the right place at the right time, for monitoring and reporting.
Lack of data
This reliance on chance means there’s no way to build reliable data streams. Without accurate time stamping, it’s harder to gather statistically significant data for making strategic decisions around deployment locations. Officers have to use gut instinct and experience to make decisions, rather than use objective information that can be easily shared across departments.
Inconsistent insights
It also means less standardization in how these reports are made, with insights based on officers’ individual perceptions. These may then be challenged if they’re to be used as evidence, with lawyers able to exploit any potential inconsistencies.
Fixed positioning
Traditional forms of adding law enforcement infrastructure, such as cameras and sensors, would be fixed to buildings or roads. That usually meant negotiating with city planners over long-term positioning. Any changes, such as roadworks that divert traffic, meant these fixed systems were temporarily out of use. There would be less likelihood of detecting crimes, and in turn would not generate ROI to justify long-term investments and Total Cost of Ownership.
How Ekin Patrol G2 transforms a day on patrol
Rather than increasing headcount (and costs), law enforcement can use Ekin Patrol G2 to increase intelligence, speed, and strategy.
Simply add the intelligent light bar to patrol cars. Within three to four hours, law enforcement patrols can be made smart, and capable of managing traffic across up to seven lanes. It’s all achieved with a variety of capabilities built for real-time policing.
AI
Whether standalone or as part of a wider installation, the AI can be used to monitor at scale. At the same time, this allows consistency around data collection and analysis, and minimizes the risks from human error that can come from manual inputting. Instead, officers can focus more on policing and frontline support, rather than admin and back-office duties.
360 vision
Officers can be alerted when someone approaches a vehicle, offering valuable seconds to prepare or act. It also means surveillance can be carried out by officers without making obvious physical movements that may attract the attention of targets.
Instant recording
Ekin Patrol G2 starts recording immediately, providing objective evidence and automatically initiating a call for backup in the event of trouble. In-vehicle recording options add an extra protective layer for officers. Any speeding or parking violations can be detected and processed in real-time, without relying on officers recording violations one by one.
Parking management
Smart cities keep moving (and parking) thanks to Ekin Patrol G2. By integrating with municipal and third-party parking apps where available or applicable, it becomes simple to manage parking spaces and availability, enforce parking limits, and detect illegally parked vehicles.
ALPR
This license plate reader adds instant context to the information received by officers. Alerts can be triggered based on third party data on license plates of wanted or stolen vehicles. By integrating this hotlist capability, command centers can allocate resources at the right time.
Rapid deployment
There’s no heavy hardware to put in the trunk. So there’s no taking up space or adding weight that slows the vehicle. Instead, officers have room for their equipment, and patrol cars can be made smart simply by adding the intelligent light bar. This includes advanced integration options too, with Ekin able to connect to existing speaker and handset controllers. Police can then operate functions such as lights from one device.
How officers use mobile intelligence to shape safer streets
Of course, prevention is better than the cure when it comes to law enforcement. However, giving the power of predictability allows officers to be proactive rather than reactive. Let’s explore how this works in day-to-day situations:
- Local authority implements new speed limits on a popular route, and created new bus-only lanes to tackle congestion
Ekin Patrol G2 takes care of the monitoring and speed detection across all lanes, sending data to the command center. Officers can use the resulting information to understand which parts of the route they need to focus their efforts on, rather than trying to spot patterns and manually identify violations.
- Neighborhood experiencing antisocial behavior, with stolen cars being used for criminal acts
Police deploy Ekin Patrol G2, and its ALPR sends automatic alerts whenever it detects a vehicle that’s been reported as missing. Patrols are sent straight to the scene with all the information relating to the license plate that’s been reported.
- Police carrying out surveillance of a property
Ekin Patrol G2 provides a live feed of activity, in high definition and using 360-degree camera angles. At night, any approaching pedestrian is detected automatically, alerting officers inside the vehicle. Ekin Patrol G2 can also trigger a call for backup if the situation escalates.
Smart city solutions for law enforcement
Data flows through the ecosystem, with baked-in interoperability bridging any silos or gaps. The modular nature of Ekin solutions allows adoption to be managed on your terms. You can also extend a setup with another Ekin product for instant interoperability.
This means you can take a plug-and-play approach, rather than needing to find workarounds to connect different solutions. That also takes away the risks to operations, productivity, and costs when attempting to maintain Business as Usual. Plus there’s less behavioral change, with employees already used to the Ekin ecosystem of products and solutions.
The modular approach allows experimentation with new products, ready for a proof of concept approach with lower risk investment. This flexibility also means law enforcement can react faster to new and emerging technologies such as IoT and higher-resolution streaming and recording.
Law enforcement teams across the world are embracing tools and technology to transform policing. It’s simply about finding the right partner to implement these changes. For example, one with 25+ years’ experience, and 40+ awards. Ekin and the award-winning Patrol G2 are here to help, guide, and advise you on creating an Ekin smart city.
