How can public safety agencies reduce violent crime with technology?

Law enforcement agencies can reduce violent crime by combining technology — such as cameras, ALPR systems, and gunshot detection systems — with access to unified data. By integrating data into a single platform, agencies turn raw information into actionable intelligence, enabling more proactive policing and improved outcomes.

What challenges do agencies face when using multiple public safety technologies?

As agencies adopt more tools, data often becomes fragmented across disconnected systems, making it difficult to access, analyze, and act on in real time. Fragmented data can slow decision making and limit the effectiveness of technology investments. Data integration helps agencies eliminate data silos and increase efficiency.

How does data integration improve decision-making in law enforcement?

Data integration gives officers and analysts real-time access to information from cameras, ALPR systems, and records management systems. This allows personnel to quickly assess situations, identify risks, and make informed decisions in the field or during investigations, improving safety and efficiency.

How can agencies measure the impact of public safety technology?

By centralizing data, agencies can track trends, evaluate outcomes, and quantify the effectiveness of their tools and strategies. This helps justify investments, improve resource allocation, and ensure that technology is aligned with both operational goals and community priorities.

How the San Pablo Police Department reduced gun crime and used unified data to maximize impact

How the San Pablo Police Department reduced gun crime and used unified data to maximize impact | Peregrine

KEY IDEAS:
Since 2011, the San Pablo Police Department has invested in public safety technology, including cameras, ALPR systems, and gunshot detection systems to reduce violent crime.
As these systems scaled, fragmented data across platforms became difficult to manage.
Peregrine’s founders embedded with the department to build a data integration platform that unified these systems.
With real-time, accessible data, the San Pablo PD improved decision making, increased transparency, strengthened community trust, and contributed to an 80% reduction in gun crime.

💡 SAN PABLO POLICE DEPARTMENT AT A GLANCE:
Location: San Pablo, California
Population: Approx. 31,562
Sworn count: 62
Total personnel: 97
Sources: San Pablo Police Department, U.S. Census

SAN PABLO, Calif. — San Pablo was once the most violent U.S. city per capita, experiencing frequent shootings, assaults, homicide, and gang activity in the mid to late ’90s. But since the city and police department began investing heavily in technology in 2011, San Pablo has seen an 80% reduction in gun crime.

San Pablo Police Department Chief Brian Bubar credited the decrease in crime to enhanced communication, proactive city efforts, ongoing community support, and — of course — improved access to public safety technology. Between 2011 and 2017, San Pablo implemented:

134 situational awareness cameras
16 automated license plate recognition cameras
Gunshot detection software

As the San Pablo PD expanded its public safety technology, it faced a new challenge: managing and operationalizing large volumes of disconnected data.

“The complexity of bringing that data and overlaying it over multiple different technology platforms was a significant challenge,” Bubar told Police1. “The police department was looking for software to make data tangible and accessible in a valuable way to our community and staff.”

WATCH → San Pablo Police Department: From Siloed Information to Accessible Insights

Enter Peregrine: The San Pablo PD was Peregrine’s flagship customer, with co-founders Nick Noone and Ben Rudolph embedding at the agency’s investigation unit for two years to better understand its technology challenges and needs.

“They just built a platform that was responsive for our needs and our community needs,” Bubar said.

🔎 WHAT DOES A PUBLIC SAFETY DATA INTEGRATION PLATFORM DO? A public safety data integration platform connects and centralizes data from systems like cameras, ALPR, and computer-aided dispatch, giving agencies real-time visibility to support investigations, decision making, and transparency.

Now, Peregrine brings all of the San Pablo PD’s information sources into a central platform, making the agency’s data more tangible and accessible than ever. By unifying previously siloed public safety data, Peregrine enabled the San Pablo PD to turn its technology investments into actionable intelligence, supporting an 80% reduction in gun crime and building stronger community trust.

To learn more about how the San Pablo PD made its city safer and inspired Peregrine’s data integration technology, read the full article on Police1.

🔑 HOW UNIFIED DATA SUPPORTS THE SAN PABLO POLICE DEPARTMENT
Enhances decision-making with real-time intelligence
Quantifies impact and justifies additional technology investment
Aligns police and community priorities
Increases accountability within the department
Strengthens community trust

FAQs

How can public safety agencies reduce violent crime with technology?: Law enforcement agencies can reduce violent crime by combining technology — such as cameras, ALPR systems, and gunshot detection systems — with access to unified data. By integrating data into a single platform, agencies turn raw information into actionable intelligence, enabling more proactive policing and improved outcomes.

What challenges do agencies face when using multiple public safety technologies?

How does data integration improve decision-making in law enforcement?

How can agencies measure the impact of public safety technology?

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