Tapping telecom to tackle crime, public safety
In São Paulo, Brazil, telecom infrastructure giant Ericsson is helping emergency responders shave off precious seconds of response time. Combined with smart city technology like traffic monitoring, the net effect has been a reduction in crime.
Ericsson has been working with officials in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, for three years on an integrated and managed emergency response system.
The Integrated Operations Center joins telephone, radio, data, video and image communications with a traffic and municipal guard management platform supported by 100 miles of fiber optic cable.
This is Ericsson’s first managed services contract in the public safety sector within Latin America, and officials credit the public safety system with helping responders better mobilize to protect and serve.
In fact, with the deployment of ICT infrastructure, homicide rates went from 10.21 homicides per 100,000 in 2013 to 8.29 homicides per 100,000 people in 2014.
Elvis de Jesus, Integrated Operations Center coordinator and regional inspector of municipal civil guard of São José dos Campos, said: “Crime and emergency response times are down because we decided to invest in high-tech safety and security equipment. Government bodies want to provide the services their citizens need and make sure our society is safe for everyone.”
Ericsson’s Head of Industry and Society Orvar Hurtig said the goal is “to use our technology to build a networked society where citizens feel safe.”
“Technological evolution also puts demands on governments to keep up with the increasing needs of citizens,” Hurtig said. “In the world of public safety, response time and access to critical information is essential. That is why we are seeing more and more cities investing in equipment and tools to save lives and protect property.”
The Integrated Operations Center managed 50,000 incidents last year that were informed via telephone calls or monitored by officers within the center.
