Baltimore is one of several cities in the United States that has experienced a significant increase in violent crime over the last several months. Due to the increase in violent episodes each day, the city’s governing body and the Baltimore City Police Department are in need of tools to help combat this increase in crime, especially when it’s the public’s safety on the line. 

In this case study, we’ll be digging deeper into the challenges they face and the solutions this city and this police department have come up with.

Challenges

• Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) officers are frequently involved in dangerous situations with little to no back-up/support. Internal operators lack the ability to directly aid and assist field officers in critical situations.
• Baltimore City crime rates are much higher than the national average.
• BCPD officers (and police officers at large nationwide) are often the target of public scrutiny regarding lack of transparency in policing.
• The BCPD was seeking an affordable solution to effectively monitor and support their officers from remote locations. 

Strategy

• BCPD wanted to identify a state-of-the-art solution that enables personnel from a remote command center to closely monitor field operations. The goal was to provide enhanced safety for the officers and the public at large, as well as to provide enhanced transparency in policing. Additionally, they felt that a comprehensive remote field monitoring system would lead to a reduction in overall crime and while also improving officer safety.
• Defender 360 installed 360-degree cameras to police cruisers and set up affordable C2 centers so that remote operators could monitor field activities of their officers in real-time. 
• Defender 360 provided the C2 centers the ability to ‘immerse themselves’ inside of any selected 360-degree camera to gain live, panoramic viewing of the entire area surrounding the police cruiser. This includes live monitoring and recording of everything detected by the cameras within a 360-degree radius (Field of View). 

Results

• By providing BCPD remote operators with real-time panoramic viewing of everything the field officers see, and their surrounding environment, a true force multiplier emerged that greatly enhanced the situational awareness and safety of the officers.  
• Through comprehensive and continuous surveillance and monitoring system, they have been able to effectively reduce the rate of crime.  
• This also provided enhanced transparency for officers out in the field.

While multiple officer-involved incidents have been monitored and controlled from the C2 center with positive outcomes, one incident in particular stands out. While on a routine patrol, the C2 center through remote monitoring of one of their patrol’s mounted 360 cameras, detected an individual wanted for murder.  The C2 center was able to promptly notify the officers in the cruiser that the suspect was in the vicinity of the vehicle. The officers were then able to apprehend, arrest, and remove a potentially violent suspect from the streets, without further incident.

The Quantum 360 Rover Camera is a plug-and-play technology that easily mounts to the hosting platform via a strong magnet, inherent to the unit, and simply plugs into the vehicle’s 12V auxiliary power outlet or other vehicle power supply port. Other mounting options are available through the universal adapter.                                                             

The Quantum 360 Fixed Camera provides a panoramic 360-video capable of live streaming 360-degree footage in real-time.  The viewer can immerse into the 360-degree videos by either clicking on the desired video sphere on the map or selecting the camera from the list of cameras as detailed on the menu. 

The Quantum Body Worn Camera is compatible with most Android Smartphones.  The Quantum Body Worn does not require long-term or binding contracts. Subscribers can join and depart the network at their discretion.  The Quantum Body Worn outperforms other body worn cameras and our subscription model drives down costs. 

Learn more about our other Defender 360 products here or get immediate feedback when you contact us!