An innovative technology is changing the way law enforcement agencies combat crime and ensure public safety. Footprint, a web-based situational awareness software, aggregates, analyses and monitors data from multiple video monitoring systems and other sensors in one intuitive platform. The tool enables law enforcement to solve cases quicker using data-driven decisions, while minimising manpower and driving down costs as a result.
Copp Integrated Systems, a Dayton, Ohio-based security systems supplier, is one of the licensees of Footprint and introduced the product to the global market. Bill DeFries, CEO of Copp Integrated Systems, says Footprint is a game changer for law enforcement agencies of any size.
For the first time, law enforcement has total situational awareness,” said DeFries. “Footprint provides a 21st-century crime data and video analytics infrastructure that is easily deployed and visually useful. By leveraging crime data and using predictive analysis, Footprint users can deploy resources more efficiently, catch criminals faster and deter and prevent crimes before they happen.”
Developed in partnership with the University of Dayton Research Institute’s (UDRI) Software Systems Group, Footprint is at the forefront of ensuring the highest level of public safety.
“Footprint is a force multiplier,” said DeFries. “It brings together any number of disparate data sources, including public and private video, CAD 911, RMS and arrest records, and visualises it all on ESRI heat maps. Because Footprint can be accessed via smartphones, tablets, laptops and other devices, it allows law enforcement officers to rapidly gather critical information at the scene of a crime.”
Footprint combines several industry-leading technologies into a single operating platform. In partnership with video management solutions provider, Milestone Systems, Footprint provides a seamless video analysis experience. Jeremy Scott, Strategic Alliance Manager at Milestone Systems, said, “With the Milestone integration, Footprint can ingest and store live and recorded video from multiple sources and locations, including CCTV footage. The open platform software operates with many different brands of access control, analytics and IoT devices as well, making it a flexible tool for law enforcement.”
Footprint’s extensive video content analytics capabilities are provided by BriefCam, which enables users to review hours of video surveillance footage in minutes and rapidly search and identify people or objects of interest. BriefCam’s video content analytics platform saves law enforcement agencies precious time and resources, said Stephanie Weagle, Chief Marketing Officer at BriefCam.
“BriefCam takes raw video content and transforms it into actionable data that is searchable, actionable and quantifiable. Video surveillance footage has never been more valuable with the ability to efficiently and effectively review and analyse its content to accelerate investigations, attain situational awareness and derive operational intelligence,” she said.
Because BriefCam and Milestone are deeply integrated for a seamless user experience in the XProtect Smart Client, the partnership with Footprint was a natural fit. As Scott explains, “It is projects like Footprint that help foster collaboration between multiple platforms for best-of-breed solutions that make a real difference. This illustrates the power of what we can do together with a third party such as Footprint.” One law enforcement agency that has deployed Footprint is the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) in Defuniak Springs, Florida. Dave Markham, President of Copp Integrated Systems, has been working closely with WSCO on the implementation of the crime-fighting software.
“I have seen first-hand how the implementation of Footprint has become a force multiplier and enabled WCSO to maximise their resources and focus on keeping all their citizens safe,” Markham said. He added, “With Footprint tightly integrated with both Milestone and BriefCam, WCSO can now work closer with their local community in a private-public partnership analysing video crime data from both WCSO cameras as well as independent owners’ video feeds.”
While Footprint was initially developed with law enforcement in mind, the technology can also be adapted for other environments, said DeFries. “Since Copp Integrated Systems first introduced Footprint to the market, it has garnered attention from national and international state and countrywide public safety agencies,” he said. DeFries added, “Beyond law enforcement, Footprint could be used to deliver a higher level of situational awareness and public safety in any populated environment such as hospitals, airports, arenas, stadiums, office or school campuses and military bases.”
