Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Ban Perpetual Beta Phenomenon! Proven Body Worn Cameras, Evidentiary Download & Management

Ban Perpetual Beta Phenomenon! 
Body Worn Cameras, Evidentiary Download & Management
By Nick Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

Repost from 2014/15
Firstly, an update on Body Worn camera Usage:

It is much more than buying cameras, with or without a grant!  It is the training of the officers and knowing you have trustworthy officers that you have hired in the first place!

Data storage is a major factor and all of you are paying too much to companies who have no experience in data technology.  Do not get tasered and shocked!


Proactive Actions

Policing the Past: Protecting the Future

Proactive Policing has got to be removed from the Perpetual Beta Phenomenon

We do not have any more new ideas to be tried this week!  The art of control, policing, is alive and well and been doing great for centuries.  It is the ability to take what has been successful in the past and easily overlay proven technology to actively understand your concerns and then eliminate them.

Why are we testing and testing Body Worn Cameras over and over again? 




CommSmart US and our partner, Global Focus, invented Body Worn Cameras in 1993!  (Robocam) Patented in 2001 with millions of hours of using them, training our clients and winning court cases!  Does that not mean anything?
CommSmart US has a completely secure solution which covers all aspects of the use of the camera, storage, and the evidentiary management.

Those of you that wish to work with us regarding cameras have the ability to have more experience and success than all other new companies put together.  This includes full certified training for officer and prosecutors, enabling success in the courtroom.

From headcam to bodycam, data download management and full court preparation with bookmarks, Telestration, all video formats, every single part of the evidence in one evidence package.  All with Trusted Remedy, Data in Motion secure connections.  Stopping the Hackers!

In an article published in the online magazine Slate, Arizona State University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice professors Justin Ready and Jacob Young address three myths about the use of officer-worn video cameras.

ASU criminologists dispel myths about police body cameras 

The researchers have been studying the use of cameras by the Mesa Police Department and examining the outcomes of interactions with citizens. Both believe the technology holds tremendous promise, but are concerned about unrealistic expectations attributed to the use of body-worn cameras by police officers.

Many pundits have suggested that officer-worn cameras could have prevented the civil unrest that has transpired in Ferguson, Missouri, last month. The city experienced heated demonstrations and looting after a white police officer shot an 18-year old black teenager who had assaulted him. In the wake of the shooting, the city's police department has equipped its officers with uniform-mounted video cameras.

"There are a lot of these expectations about the ability of this technology to prevent or thwart these types of problems," says Ready, in an interview about the article. "But do we have unrealistic expectations of this technology. And if so, why?"

The researchers say the first myth about the use of such cameras is the belief that video evidence is completely objective and free of interpretation. To the contrary, the professors say that people can have different perspectives of the same video.

"People interpret what they see on video through the filter of their own experiences," the professors write in Slate.

In a separate interview, Young, an expert on social networks, says perception – not reality – influences how we see what was recorded.

“A lot of times in high-profile cases, the facts may become irrelevant to an individual’s beliefs about what actually happened. Perception is everything," says Young. "It’s this idea that even if you had an objective account of what occurred, the meaning of what happened is subjective and particular to the individual viewer.”

A second myth is that technology will always improve interactions between officers and citizens since both parties are being recorded. While cameras can be helpful in the majority of situations officers encounter, the criminologists point out that most interactions involve mediating disputes or helping those in need. In some instances, cameras could actually make things worse in situations where recording may interfere with an officer’s responsibility of enforcing the law. They cite an example of an officer trying to comfort a teenage girl who lived in an abusive home. They write that the officer "found it difficult to show compassion and respect for her privacy with the camera rolling."

The last myth is that body-worn video cameras will lessen civil unrest and controversy because the video that is captured is “objective.” Ready and Young suggest it's possible for such video to have a polarizing effect.

"People with strong convictions about what has transpired during a police shooting may use the ‘facts’ that they see in the video footage to support their expectations about what occurred in the blind spots," they write.

Overall, the two researchers suggest officer-worn video cameras will have a positive effect on policing. They point to the research they conducted in Mesa where one group of 50 officers wore cameras and another group of 50 did not. 

They found officers with cameras conducted significantly fewer stop and frisks (and thus, arrests) than officers without the cameras. They also wrote more tickets, suggesting they were concerned with the consequences of letting someone go for a minor violation.

The researchers point out that, despite the limitations of video evidence, equipping officers with cameras will probably have the most impact by helping prevent problematic interactions between officers and citizens.

"The presence of a camera influences behavior," notes Young. "It's not necessarily having a recording of the event to evaluate after an incident, it's the preventing of particular actions before they transpire."

The policing evolution has been slow to come, but it is coming, I know so, as we are at the forefront. Citizens, elected officials, and progressive law enforcement commanders are demanding efficiency and effectiveness from agencies serving as peace keepers and social service providers. 

As a profession, policing assumes responsibility for measuring levels of crime and perceived effectiveness in combating that crime.  This is a dangerous combination and is similar to asking the fox to keep a count of the chickens.  Feathers are strewn everywhere and those floating feathers never seem to hit the ground in real time, finding their way into our mouths, sticking and make us panic in the removal process.

Let us put the brakes on all these meetings and more bloody meetings and show you the answer.  I know we are bold, that is why we are on the right track, successful and down-to-earth in our methodology.  I ask you to listen.

CommSmart US is an all-encompassing manufacturer, designer of the hardware and software. Believing by mixing old school Peelian Principles and proven technology, we can rejuvenation and restore Trust, Respect and Pride back into the communities and the law enforcement family.

CommSmart US has the proven, patented, proprietary solutions and will discuss how we can solve and assist in all facets of your data in motion information security.

Be Smart, with CommSmart US…


WE ARE IN THE NOW AND KEEP YOU; 
IN THE KNOW…



Telephone: +1 (330) 366.6860
Copyright 2016

The Art of the Possible...


The Art of the Possible...
by Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

It seems we are still flowing in perpetual beta phenomenon! 

We mentioned this in our article on Body-Worn Cameras in 2014 & 2015.

No one wants to take the lead and make a sensible decision or say the GO!  It is about the stop gaps and no two-way conversation with those in the commercial enterprise world and not just a name or a brand. 

It takes logic, testicular fortitude and a set of ears too!

It is like society is running scared, suffering from indecisiveness.

We do not have any more new ideas to be tried this week!  The art of control, policing, is alive, well and been doing great for centuries.  Sir Robert Peel made sure of that with his Nine Peelian Principles and the birth of policing as we use to know it.

It is the ability to take what has been successful in the past and easily overlay proven technology to actively understand your concerns and then eliminate them.

Our corporate aspirations are continually a moving target, in reality, we must say yes at some stage and utilize the tested and proven.  Questioning is fine, but just like writing a song, there are only so many lyrics and notes that go on a page and become a hit.  It has to hit the airwaves sometime to be effective and be heard!

Overlaying technology is an art form as I have stated many a time, so is applying the brakes on perpetual beta testing!

It is all about the ‘Art of the Possible!

The Art of the Possible came up in a conversation with Selvin Baker, Digital Police Portfolio, (Home Office, the British Government).  He mentioned it in our conversation on digital technology and the phrase has a certain ring to it.  I had to delve deeper, I had not heard of it, or so I thought.

The original phrase is "Politics is the art of the possible", which means, "It's not about what's right or what's best. It's about what you can actually get done".

Getting everything you want is impossible, and often, you have to severely compromise in order to get anything you want at all. 

But in the end, refusing to compromise means you get nothing whatsoever.

The term "art of the possible" is sometimes generalized in the sense of avoiding perfectionism. The goal is to get something that is good enough and move on rather than being driven into complete immobility by a desire to be perfect.

Both Selvin Baker and CommSmart Global Group, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions Partner are deservedly on the same page!  We have never met, but spoken on many occasions and it seems to share the same concerns of how digital technology is going round in circles.

Like Body Worn Cameras in the U.K., which 22,000 were introduced yesterday (Oct 17th, 2016).  Using extremely old technology and the mistakes of the original camera launch of 2013 in the U.S., by Taser have not changed.  Old model with a luck luster approach of the ‘back office’ and expensive data storage.

So why do we believe we have the Art of the Possible with us, here today and the future? 

Simple we have more compliant data at our fingers for active use.  Not stored in silos to never see the light of day. 

Oh, plus the full compliant Social Media Monitoring, Crime Analytics, Community Crime Mapping and Predictive Analysis.  To be used by ‘Beat or Ward’ officers each and every day and of course a much more sophisticated analytic tool for analysts.

It is not good enough to have the solutions, they have to be implemented and that means CHANGE!  Everyone is against change and there is the additional art form.  CommSmart Global Group's capabilities and proven adaptability are part of their professional services.  Coaching & Mentoring are key to the success for all concerned.

In crime analytics, there is only one approach!  The connection of all crime data, local, regional and nationally is what we do, a simple fact that the ‘Go Fish’ approach of policing is gone!  Our catch rate is way better than expected or is achieving the necessary reality for both law enforcement and the public.  Solutions are for today, solving your community and national concerns.  

There is no argument that we must improve and improve now!  Criminals have so much more in their technology savvy felonious toolbox.  It is not just picking up information by physically sitting in a smoke-filled pub, downing a Budweiser and listening to the criminals bragging about their criminal deeds. 

Today, it is about technology, the social or unsocial media, running their fingers and thumbs instead of their mouths. 

This is the Atmospherics of our world, yes CommSmart Global Group, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions Partner, has decades of collecting and analyzing both public and law enforcement data that is amassed in its billions of records daily. 

Crime is not restricted to a four-block area of streets, it is national and global, we have developed with our qualified teams of ex-Metropolitan Police officers, ranging from Chief Superintendents, Chief Inspectors, Commanders, Flying Squad, Counter Terrorism, Beat/Ward Officers and incredible data analysts.  They have worked hand in hand in developing methods of collection and drill down analytics with successes, second to none on a daily basis.
  • Social Media Monitoring of individuals that comply with all legal ramifications of those individual users (countries)
  • Crime Analytics, knowing the beat/ward historically and what to be cognizant about and the attributes
  •  Community Crime Mapping, both public and internal
  • Predictive Analysis, having analysts who use our techniques to be ahead of the curve with proactive policing
  • Beat/Ward officers having the ability to use Smartphones/Laptop and Desktop computers to see so much more in a productive time frame.
  • Multi-Jurisdiction analytics.  Agencies are now working in silos and criminals are using this to exploit more criminal opportunities.  There is no need any longer to work singularly trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  We have the solutions to allow all agencies to work together efficiently and cooperatively.
  • Above all, Change Agency
If it sounds like we are being braggadocios about our capabilities, we are not
We only bring you the facts that we wish to work side by side with solution tools and mindset of major proportions.  It is the CommSmart Global Group which is an American company which is made up of mostly Brits and ex-cops, working within law enforcement proactive techniques, analytics, cyber security, and coaching/mentoring since 1992. 

Then there is LexisNexis, owned by another British company, RELX Group. It is a multinational information and analytics company based in London, in the United Kingdom. It operates in four market segments: scientific, technical and medical; risk and business analytics and legal.

LexisNexis Group is a corporation providing computer-assisted legal research as well as business research and risk management services. During the 1970’s, LexisNexis pioneered the electronic accessibility of legal and journalistic documents.

We are a commercial enterprise who collectively have invested in data collection from the streets to the war zones of the world to protect us all.  Whether it be the community, as the ‘police are the public and the public are the police’, or the war in Afghanistan, with the ability to predict the location of roadside IEDs for the US Department of Defense, saving hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

We are here now!  Working with knowledge of British Policing and data manipulation for a proactive result.

I believe we should be meeting with you all.  It is with senior management and departments who have been charged to create a solution.  Which by the way is already here and will assist in the demands of the community and government. 

We are all on the same page and need to be in the same room for a down-to-earth conversation on the capabilities of Digital Policing now and in the future.

It is not about who or what we are, it is about solving a dire situation and it is no good asking where policing will be in 2025, if you do not listen, review and understand what is already here in the Atmosphere!

It is All About CHANGE

A meeting, please…

It takes Social Media Monitoring, Public Data, Crime Analytics, Community Crime Mapping, Predictive Analysis and a strong listening ear.  It is not about marketing services, it is about the passion we have for making our social world more acceptable, safer and this we commit to you.

WE ARE IN THE NOW AND KEEP YOU; IN THE KNOW...




Monday, October 17, 2016

UNDERSTANDING A TRUTH...

Life, Communities, People, Policing
& the Future Have All Changed
UNDERSTANDING A TRUTH...
by Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

It is not so much that we have drifted apart, it is as if a megaton bomb blew the crap out of us.  Yes, that explosive with broken distorted misshaped blood-stained pieces everywhere.

When and why did it start and is it possible to turn this around?

The charred remains of global society is not a puzzle you can easily put back together, the front cover of the so-called book with a photograph of what society should be like, is gone, disappeared and no matter how sophisticated we are technology-wise, we are Fucked!  

There is no other way to state it unless you want that 'real' locker room talk, we all know exists and been part of!

It is not a time for so-called niceties or political correctness, not with the landscape of humanity looking the way it is.

Humans hate each other, racism is so front and center that it smells and we all know it.  Black, White, Chinese, Italian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist and even within your own family and friends as they are the disjointed society we live and survive in.

You have forgotten one simple thing.

"The Public Are The Police and The Police Are The Public"

Those that have to have this explained from the top-down, do not deserve to be in a leadership role.  It was not and never has been a "THEM & US" role.  

You yourselves are the public, you live in communities, shop locally, send your children or grandchildren to local schools, drink and eat in the same venues and glean your entertainment locally.  

It is all about the US, YOU and NOT THEM!

YOU ARE 'THEM'!

Today, Body Worn Cameras have been issued to some 22,000 police officers in the U.K., sounds great and it is.  Understanding the principle of evidentiary capture and usage is another aspect of the changing world of policing.

Let us review with the last in principle.  What changed last that we can grasp at? 

Society's means of communicating radically changed in the '80s with the method of communicating through Mobile Phone, no more using pager and finding a telephone box.  Right in the palm of your hand was the communications tool that Gene Roddenberry showed us in StarTrek. 

Little did we know how it was changing crime, people, and the outcome of society today.

Today, we have social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, What's App and whatever other strange communication was born overnight on the Internet of Things.

If you want to know what is going on, you have to be able to delve down deep into people's habits, which by the way have not changed, just been ignored ignorantly.  

Sir Robert Peel is relevant today as he was in 1829!

Peel was ahead of his time thank goodness, he visualized the outcome of the streets if we did nothing to stem crime and how it was the public's needs that were required to stop the diabolic issues.

Hence, the Nine Peelian Principles were born when he was Home Secretary of the U.K. in 1829.

We do not need to plead the 5th to protect ourselves, we need to invoke what has worked with a little added proven technology!


You cannot start from scratch, or attempt to re-invent the wheel, the government must look and engage commercial enterprise which has already been twenty years plus into the digital analytic world of proactive policing.

Yes, Digital Policing...

From the days of Sir Robert Peel, some 190 years ago Peel used then modern capabilities of awareness, with the tall hat, the whistle to communicate and his street-level knowledge of the increasing criminal elements on the streets of London. 

Peel did not make the hat or engineer the whistle, he used what was available and proven at the time.  Of course, Peel’s people oversaw the availability and standard of the purchases and what and why they were the choice, he did not in any way re-invent the wheel so to speak. 

Peel used commercial enterprise to achieve his goal, the security of the public and control the out of control situations of the moment.

There is no argument that we must improve and improve now!  Criminals have so much more in their technology-savvy felonious toolbox.  It is not just picking up information by physically sitting in a smoke-filled pub, downing a Budweiser and listening to the criminals bragging about their criminal deeds. 

Today, it is about technology, the social or unsocial media, running their fingers and thumbs instead of their mouths. 

This is the Atmospherics of our world, yes CommSmart Global Group has decades of collecting and analyzing both public and law enforcement data that is amassed in its billions of records daily. 

Crime is not restricted to a four-block area of streets, it is national and global, we have developed with our qualified teams of ex-Metropolitan Police officers, ranging from Chief Superintendents, Chief Inspectors, Commanders, Flying Squad, Counter-Terrorism, Beat/Ward Officers and incredible data analysts.  They have worked for hand in hand in developing methods of collection and drill-down analytics with successes, second to none on a daily basis.

If it sounds like we are being braggadocios about our capabilities, we are not
We only bring you the facts that we wish to work side by side with solution tools and mindset of major proportions.  It is the CommSmart Global Group which is an American company which is made up of mostly Brits and ex-cops, working within law enforcement proactive techniques, analytics, cybersecurity, and coaching/mentoring since 1992. 

We are a commercial enterprise who collectively have invested in data collection from the streets to the war zones of the world to protect us all.  Whether it be the community, as the ‘police are the public and the public are the police’, or the war in Afghanistan, with the ability to predict the location of roadside IEDs for the US Department of Defense, saving hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

We are here now!  Working with knowledge of British Policing and data manipulation for a proactive result.

I believe we should be meeting with you all.  It is with senior management and departments who have been charged to create a solution.  Which by the way is already here and will assist in the demands of the community and government. 

We are all on the same page and need to be in the same room for a down-to-earth conversation on the capabilities of Digital Policing now and in the future.

It is not about who or what we are, it is about solving a dire situation and it is no good asking where policing will be in 2025 if you do not listen, review and understand what is already here in the Atmosphere!

It is All About CHANGE


WE ARE IN THE NOW AND KEEP YOU; IN THE KNOW...





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