Benefits and Best Practices of Safe City Innovation Darrell M. West and Dan Bernstein he Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization devoted to independent research Tand policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. The Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) at Brookings focuses on delivering research that impacts public debate and policymaking in the arena of U.S. and global technology innova- tion. CTI’s goals include identifying and analyzing key developments to increase innovation, as well as developing and publicizing best practices to relevant stakeholders. Support for this publication was generously provided by Huawei. Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its absolute commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment. Darrell M. West is the vice president and director of Governance Studies and founding direc- tor of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. Dan Bernstein is a science policy fellow at the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute. Benefits and Best Practices of Safe City Innovation Darrell M. West and Dan Bernstein Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 Rating Cities on Public Safety Innovation 7 Public Safety Budgets 10 The Number of CCTV Cameras 12 Safe City Projects and Initiatives 13 The Use of Police Body Cams in Amsterdam 15 Integrated Command Centers in Lijiang and Nairobi 17 Social Media Safety Alerts in Bangkok 18 Predictive Data Analytics in Bogota 19 The Industry Supporting Safe City Solutions 20 The Economic Benefits of Public Safety Innovation 23 Implementation Challenges 25 Poor Funding 25 Infrastructure Deficiencies 25 Public Resistance 25 Lack of Technical Expertise 26 Privacy Concerns 26 Security and Ransomware Problems 26 The Role of Government in Technology Innovation 27 Recommendations and Best Practices for Improving Public Safety Innovation 29 Investing in Digital Infrastructure 29 Overcoming Funding Challenges 29 Implementing Integrated Command Centers 30 Boosting Government Efficacy and Transparency 30 Crowd-Sourcing Through Citizen Participation 30 Building Public Support 31 Breaking Down Organizational Stovepipes 31 Overcoming Organizational Resistance 3 1 Using Police Body Cameras and Video Cameras to Improve Accountability 32 Taking Advantage of Open Data and Open Platforms 32 Deploying Data Analytics and Social Media to Fight Crime 33 Balancing Public Safety and Personal Privacy 33 Conclusion 35 Appendices 36 I Methodology 36 II Information Sources and Data for Each City 38 2 Benefits and Best Practices of Safe City Innovation List of Tables 1. Public Safety Ratings of Major Cities 8 2. Public Safety Budgets in Selected Cities 10 3. Breakdown of New York City Public Safety Revenue Sources 11 4. Breakdown of Singapore Revenue Sources 11 5. Number of CCTV Cameras in Selected Cities 12 6. Number of Police Body Cameras in Selected Cities 16 7. Companies Providing Public Safety Solutions 21 8. Benefits of Technology Investment and Public Safety Innovation 23 9. Ways Law Enforcement is Promoting Efficacy and Transparency 27 10. Legal Considerations with Police Body Cameras 32 Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings 3 Executive Summary ublic safety is an important aspect of contemporary Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Plife. In a world that is chaotic, dangerous, and volatile, Indonesia; Singapore, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Kuwait it is hard for there to be economic prosperity and social City, Kuwait; Abuja, Nigeria; Cairo, Egypt; Astana, cohesion without some degree of safety. People need Kazakhstan, and Bogota, Colombia. We chose these security in order to live day-to-day and undertake busi- places to reflect geographic diversity, representation ness and communications. This is especially the case both in the developed and developing worlds, having in regard to cities. According to UNICEF, 70 percent of large populations, and in most cases serving as the people around the world will live in cities by the year capital city of a country. 2050. This trend toward urbanization will necessitate new operating models and pose challenges in terms of As documented in this report, there is considerable how to protect residents. variation from city to city in implementation progress and adoption of best practices. Singapore, Copenhagen, Digital technology represents a novel way to improve and London top the list of public safety innovators, public safety, promote stronger ties between law while Abuja, Nigeria, Cairo, Kuwait City, and Astana, enforcement and the community, integrate solutions Kazakhstan lag the top performers. The former are such as video, data, and analytics into effective solutions, places that have a clear vision, significant financial and give security officials stronger tools for outreach and resources, a strong infrastructure, generate positive coordination. According to a Composite report, many safety outcomes, the use of data analytics, and com- police departments around the world are incorporat- munity engagement to improve ties with the general ing social media, mobile technology, and digital tools in public, while the latter have not implemented many best their operations. They are setting up Internet platforms, practices and have resource limitations that so far have leveraging the wisdom of the crowd, and expanding their precluded significant progress. community policing initiatives. Public safety innovation is important because it is a Law enforcement officials see value in terms of inte- major contributor to economic development. According grated, visualized, and collaborative command centers to research studies reviewed by Cardona, Kretschmer, that provide real-time analysis. There are solutions that and Strobel in the journal of Information Economics and promote shared infrastructure, multi-agency collab- Policy, “a 10% increase in ICT investment leads to a .6% oration, real-time information through sensors, video increase in growth.” That benefit has grown overtime surveillance, facial recognition, and data analytics, and and appears in a number of different countries. automated processing of information. Public officials need reliable and up-to-date communications in order In addition, social connectivity represents a way to to make informed decisions on emergency responses, improve law enforcement. It helps officers keep in resource allocation, and priority-setting. touch with the community and improve its account- ability. For example, cities that utilize body cameras In this paper, we examine the ways that digital tech- on police “saw an 88% decline in the number of nology, mobile networks, and integrated solutions complaints against officers and a 60% reduction in help officials in 17 cities manage public safety and incidents involving a use of force over the next year,” law enforcement. The locales include New York according to an Equities report. RAND furthermore City, United States; Washington, D.C., United States; found that a “10% increase in the size of a police force Paris, France; London, United Kingdom; Amsterdam, decreases the rate of homicide by 9%, robbery by 6% Netherlands; Madrid, Spain; Copenhagen, Denmark; and vehicle theft by 4% each year.” 4 Benefits and Best Practices of Safe City Innovation Cities face a variety of implementation challenges, such as solutions and new digital tools for public safety Cities poor funding, infrastructure difficulties, public resistance, need to upgrade their telecommunications facilities so a lack of technical expertise, and privacy and security their residents and law enforcement can gain the bene- concerns Implementation of public safety solutions rep- fits of technology innovation resents a major challenge in many different places, and it is crucial for leaders to overcome these barriers in order to Overcoming funding challenges — The biggest diffi- achieve the benefits of public safety innovation Solutions culty in most municipal areas is funding Budgets are such as CCTV cameras, police body cameras, integrated strained in most cities as they confront rising popu- command centers using broadband trunking, social media lations, public discontent, community disorder, and safety alerts, and predictive data analysis show great organizational dysfunction Law enforcement has to promise as tools for law enforcement balance demands from a number of different sources and figure out ways to become more efficient and effec- Many factors affect technology innovation in the tive Understanding how digital technology improves the public sector This includes the level of financial invest- efficiency of operations is important for city officials ment, crime rates, safety considerations, openness to technology solutions, and the strength of the digital Implementing integrated command centers — Public infrastructure in particular countries But government officials need reliable and up-to-date information regard- policy is especially important because officials make ing law enforcement and public safety Broadband investments that enhance the efficiency and effective- trunking systems help agents integrate information from ness of public sector operations The way