14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft today announced that together with authorities in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo it launched the detect system, which was developed with the help of New York City, in the local market in order to fight crimes and improve police work.
This is the first time when Detecta is being deployed in a location other than New York City, where it has already been used for counter-terrorism actions and fighting other types of crimes.
Microsoft claims that Detecta won’t help the police right away, but the first results of this new technology should be seen after four months. Officers will be allowed to access the system though a wide array of devices, including computers, tablets, smartphones, and laptops.
Copom (center of military police operations), Cepol (Center for civil police communications and operations) and Ciisp (integrated Center of public security intelligence of the State of São Paulo) will be the two bodies keeping track of everything that Detecta reports.
Detecta is a system developed by Microsoft and the New York City that uses what Microsoft calls “the most modern technologies in the area of computing.” Basically, the technology monitors a specific area and collects data and in case of an incident, it uses the information it gathers with the one stored in the local databases. This way, Detecta can provide officers with details about those involved in a very short time.
Here’s an example offered by Microsoft as part of a press release issued this morning:
“If a suspect flees in a red car and only part of the license plate is known, the system can be configured to locate all vehicles with that partial license plate number that share the same color, and display the locations on a map. The nearest police patrol car will also be alerted about the incident.”
Detecta will thus come in handy to both patrols and investigators, so it tries not only to resolve crimes and incidents, but also to prevent them from the very beginning. At least, that’s what Microsoft promises.
"This project is an opportunity for Microsoft to collaborate with innovative police management models based on the use of technology. The pioneering spirit of the Government of the State of São Paulo to adopt a system that was implemented successfully in New York, will be an important ally to combat crime and provide more security for citizens," said Mariano de Beer, president of Microsoft Brazil.