HW #5 IBM Analytics Help Memphis Cops Get 'Smart'
The article that I will be discussing is
called “IBM Analytics Help Memphis Cops Get 'Smart'”, it was published on
December 5th 2011 and the article was written by Rachael King and
the source of the article was from Bloomberg Businessweek.
This article takes place with the Memphis
Police Department and it revolves around Lieutenant Paul Wright who responded
to a shooting scene in Memphis’s Frayser neighborhood. After he responded to
the scene the ambulance was pulling away with the victim.
A few seconds later, a nearby police officer
pulled out a smart phone and was able to file a police report. He did so on his
HTC Corp Smartphone. Within the next hour, the confidential information was
scoured by International Business Machines (IBM) software, helping the Memphis Police
Department determine whether the incident was part of a wide spread pattern.
The largest city in Tennessee is taken part
in one of more than 2,000 so-called smart city projects aimed at helping urban
areas, from San Francisco to Rio de Janeiro, use data analysis to cut crime,
pollution and traffic congestion. Over a decade, cities will invest $108
billion in related tools, according to Pike Research, creating a windfall for
software makers such as IBM, device manufacturers like HTC and Siemens AG,
Europe’s top engineering company, Bloomberg Businessweek.com reported.
Memphis has been focused on reducing crime by
using this smart phone technology. European cities like London, are using this
technology to deal with population growth problems in the city. Last year,
about 50.5 percent of the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people, lived in
cities, according to a March 2010 report from the United Nations. By 2050, the
urban population is forecast to rise to 69 percent.
With the increase in the population in cities
worldwide, there will be an increase in crime as well. The sale of smart
city-related technology may rise to $57 billion in 2014 from $34 billion last
year, according to researcher IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. With that being
said Police stations across the country are investing in smart technology to
help them out on the field. I think this
is a great idea because it will help out the officers a lot of they can get
information about suspects and crimes right to their phone. It’s also easier to
put everything in a program on your phone and then upload that information to
the computer instead of taking notes.
The smart technology is a great idea for
officers as it will make their life’s a whole lot easier.
I agree with you Cerullo and think that smart phone technology is a great idea. With all the new technology that is becoming available more and more every day this should make it easier for the police officers. I think that is it good that cities will invest money in related tools creating a windfall for software makers. It is also good that Memphis is trying to reduce crime by using smart phone technology. I think by using the smart phone technology, it allows officers to file reports and find out information on suspects and crimes faster and easier. By doing that it should reduce the number of crimes committed and make it easier to catch criminals. I agree with you that an increase in population could also create an increase in crime. I think that more police stations should invest in this smart phone technology to help them out.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that the smart phone technology is the way to go for most public works especially police officers. Like you stated it will be much easier to file reports or gain access to past reports if it is right at the officers finger tips. I also think it will be very helpful when an eyewitness gives a criminal description. With the technological advances today, after the officer draws the description, he or she can simply take a photo of the drawn picture, then upload it to the app or however this would work and then instantly all the cops in the city or surrounding areas have a picture description of a suspect on the loose. I think this will help police officers immensely on the job because everything will be completely instant. The one problem that could possibly occur is hacking. This software has to have a great defense system in order to stop hackers that could be working with criminals to completely wipe out the system or manipulate documents. Overall, I think this is a great idea and if it continues to work I believe it will start to be seen in major cities globally.
DeleteMatthew,
ReplyDeleteThe article you chose to read was very intriguing. I think it is very interesting that this cop on site pulled out his smart phone to file this incident report, and that this confidential information was windswept by international business machines. And now Memphis is focused on reducing their crimes by using this smart phone technology. Shows that technology has come a long way and is exactly what it is called, SMART. I also think it is interesting that other cities are using this technology to deal with population growth which will help rise to 69% like it states in the article. I don’t think this is a good idea because of the expected increase in crime rising to 57 billion as opposed to 35 billion last year that is a drastic increase of change. I think that this is a great idea for officers because it will make their lives a whole lot easier I just think that the downside is increase in crime. Great job on your article!