Public Safety: Page 6

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    2025’s top smart city conferences

    Smart city technology, housing, climate action, transportation, public safety and more take center stage at events in 2025.

    By • Updated June 27, 2025
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    Column

    Smarter, safer streets: How data and technology can save lives on U.S. roads

    In the years after the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life, a disturbing trend emerged on America’s roads: driving became significantly more dangerous.

    By Lew Miller • Sept. 23, 2024
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    Chicago’s transit authority looks to AI-powered gun detection to help curb violent crime

    As part of a continuing effort to curb violent crime and enhance security for riders, the Chicago Transit Authority announced Aug. 29 it would begin utilizing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered gun detection technology in some of its existing digital security cameras.

    By • Sept. 20, 2024
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    Opinion

    How to build awareness of flood risk and gain buy-in for flood control measures

    Floods are one of the most devastating events to strike a community—costly in terms of lives lost, damaged or destroyed homes, economic disruption, and damage to critical infrastructure. However, improvements in technology are helping local governments provide accurate assessments of flood risk, so steps can be taken to provide early and accurate warning of flood events, minimize potential losses, and improve outcomes and overall resilience after a flood occurs.

    By Katherine Osborne • Sept. 13, 2024
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    Courtesy of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
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    New York enacts panic-button law to counter crime in stores

    The bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, which requires a host of safety measures to address store-based crime, was opposed by key retail trade groups.

    By Daphne Howland • Sept. 9, 2024
  • Officers wearing shirts that read "police" handcuff a person.
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    Homelessness response team heads to streets in Birmingham, Alabama

    As it does in some California and Texas cities, the organization Urban Alchemy will respond to certain nonemergency calls in Birmingham instead of the police.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Sept. 5, 2024
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    Column

    Charging Forward: Public sector EVs pose both challenges and opportunities for state agencies and their partners

    Across the country, state and local procurement teams are taking up the call to expand electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

    By Steve Isaac • Aug. 29, 2024
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    Violent crime fell 6% in major U.S. cities in the first half of 2024, survey finds

    Boston recorded a stunning 78% decline in homicides in the first half of 2024 compared with the first half of 2023, representing the largest plunge in murder rates among 69 U.S. cities, according to an Axios analysis of data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an independent organization of police executives.

    By • Aug. 21, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Flood monitoring product aims to make tracking flood damage more efficient

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.The amount...

    By • July 19, 2024
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    Column

    Rethinking the 85th percentile rule: Prioritizing safety over speed

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.One of the...

    By Wes Guckert, PTP • July 15, 2024
  • At ShotSpotter's Incident Review Center, three people sit in a row facing up to six computer monitors each, with keyboards and phones on the desks in front of them.
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    Courtesy of Shot Spotter
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    New York joins cities questioning ShotSpotter costs, benefits

    The gunshot detection system may waste NYPD resources, a June audit states, and existing data don’t support renewing the contract. Chicago and Houston are among the cities that plan to drop the technology.

    By David Silverberg • July 11, 2024
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    NYC Council approves legislation requiring proactive building inspections

    If signed into law, the bill would require the Department of Buildings to use predictive analytics to identify and address hazardous structures before they become dangerous.

    By Nish Amarnath • July 1, 2024
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    Sponsored by Schneider Electric

    Extreme heat driving innovation in municipal heat resilience

    How city leaders are demanding proactive strategies for resilience and energy use.

    June 17, 2024
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    Brandon Bell / Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Uvalde families announce $2M settlement with city, additional lawsuits

    While the families of those killed in a 2022 mass shooting will not pursue further legal action against the city, their legal team said they are suing state-level officers and intend to sue the federal government.

    By Naaz Modan • May 24, 2024
  • A person sits on the ground outside painting a colorful bench, while another lays behind the bench. Buckets of paint sit next to them.
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    Permission granted by Chattanooga Urbanist Society
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    Guerrilla urbanists are ‘doing it our damn selves’

    Some people decide to install bus stop benches, crosswalks and bike lanes without official approval. Experts say it’s an opportunity for cities to engage with the community.

    By Adina Solomon • May 23, 2024
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    Column

    Can vehicle speed and student safety ever be compatible?

    Can vehicle speed and student safety ever be compatible?

    By Wes Guckert, PTP • May 13, 2024
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Are homeless encampment bans ‘cruel and unusual?’

    The Supreme Court begins to examine laws that restrict camping even when no shelter space is available as advocates for the homeless and city officials weigh in.

    By Danielle McLean • April 22, 2024
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    Column

    For the public sector, security and compliance are just good business

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.State and ...

    By Neil Steinhardt • April 17, 2024
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    DoorDash adds AI to chat feature to detect harassment between workers and customers

    The delivery platform is replacing an old chat monitoring tool with SafeChat+, which can detect inappropriate content without specific keyword matching.

    By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • March 13, 2024
  • New York State Police, MTAPD and New York National Guard patrol and conduct container inspections at Grand Central Station on March 6, 2024 in New York City.
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    Adam Gray via Getty Images
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    NYC subways get National Guard, state police patrols after high-profile assaults

    While New York City Mayor Eric Adams and transit workers applaud the move, others express concerns about racial profiling.

    By • March 7, 2024
  • A yellow cab taxi is seen on March 24, 2022 in New York City.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Data lacking on assaults against taxi, ride-hailing drivers and passengers, GAO says

    Uber, Lyft and taxi companies do not regularly report data on assaults, leaving the agency to conclude that it can't measure the prevalence of such crimes.

    By • Feb. 28, 2024
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    Duke Givens

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    2023 Crown Communities Award winner: Long Beach Calif.’s GUIDES mobile app

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter. Police in...

    By Michael Keating • Feb. 15, 2024
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    For faster emergency response, New York’s fire department looks to AI

    The FDNY is testing an artificial intelligence-driven project to help emergency vehicles avoid traffic and other roadblocks on the way to life-threatening emergencies.

    By Paige Gross • Feb. 13, 2024
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    Drones are changing emergency response in this Pacific Northwest city

    Bellevue, Washington, has used drones to monitor crowd safety on Independence Day, locate a person fleeing arrest and photograph a car crash scene.

    By Paige Gross • Jan. 29, 2024
  • People walk through a subway station in Manhattan on January 19, 2022 in New York City.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    As some transit crime rates triple, FTA releases data, other resources

    Grant programs to fund crime prevention and security projects also are available, the Federal Transit Administration announced.

    By • Jan. 29, 2024