Latest news with #crimePrevention
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Science
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Student develops AI system to help police detect crimes before they happen
A member of Dubai Police, and inspired researcher, has developed a homegrown system that could take crime prevention one step further — by detecting it before it happens. Dr Salem AlMarri, the first Emirati to earn a Ph.D. from the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), has designed a video anomaly detection (VAD) system capable of identifying unusual behaviour in real-time. The technology could, in theory, alert authorities to suspicious or harmful activity before a formal complaint is ever made, or even before a crime is committed. 'Today, we understand how a human or object looks and moves. But how do we understand something that breaks the pattern, [like] an anomaly?' AlMarri said in an interview with Khaleej Times. 'A person walking in a very weird manner could mean something is going on. It could be an accident, or a hazard, or a fight unfolding. Anomalies have different meanings in real life; and we're training AI to recognise them.' While the field of anomaly detection has existed for decades, AlMarri's research brings the concept into the realm of video and audio. Using AI, his model is trained to distinguish between normal and abnormal footage. For example, learning to identify when an incident like a robbery or assault is taking place, even if it unfolds in a subtle or non-violent manner. As an example, he cited a hypothetical scene where a man walks up to a cashier and asks for money, politely. 'A normal camera won't know what's happening, it will just see a generous cashier handing money to somebody.' But beneath the surface, the AI model may detect subtle cues like body posture, tone, micro-behaviours — that point to coercion or threat. The model must first 'understand what is normal and what is abnormal,' by being trained on large amounts of labelled footage, he explained. 'We need to show it footage of people just handling money in the normal fashion. And then we tell it, okay, this is where something bad happens — robbery, burglary, or whatever. It learns to tell the differences, like a human child. And if it predicts correctly, it gets rewarded.' Thousands of experiments AlMarri's research, carried out during his secondment from Dubai Police, involved thousands of training experiments using real-world datasets. To overcome a key challenge — that many videos don't clearly indicate when an abnormal event begins, he designed a new approach. 'I shuffled different segments of videos to create a custom dataset, one moment showing a road accident, the next showing people walking normally in a mall, then a street fight,' he explained, 'this way, the model learned to recognise when something shifted from normal to abnormal.' His work also tackled real-world obstacles that could hinder performance. He developed a benchmark that allows the model to function even when one input, audio or video, is corrupted. This has major implications in the UAE, where weather conditions like fog can obstruct video clarity. 'If there's heavy fog or noise distortion, many models fail. So we trained ours to rely on one modality if the other is compromised. This is crucial for environments like autonomous driving or surveillance during poor visibility,' he pointed. The flagship findings are part of his Ph.D. thesis at MBZUAI, conducted under the supervision of Professor Karthik Nandakumar in the Sprint AI lab, which focuses on security, privacy, and preservation technologies. Like father, like son AlMarri's journey is rooted in a childhood filled with invention. His father, an engineer, built a screw-free wind turbine in the 1990s, a computer interface for people with no limbs, and a digital attendance system for police officers — long before such technologies were mainstream. 'It was a personal challenge for me, to at least try to come close to his achievements, to carry on his legacy.' After joining Dubai Police in 2016 and working on robotics and drones, he pursued further education in AI to stay relevant as the department transformed into a data-driven force. 'Within the police, our department went from being a smart service department to an AI department. I felt like I was being outpaced,' he recalled. Following a master's in electrical engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology, he was selected for MBZUAI's first Ph.D. cohort in computer vision - a move he describes as transformative. "MBZUAI humbled me,' described the 30-year-old. 'I had won competitions and worked on great projects, but this was something different. I was challenged over and over. When I walked out the door, I thought I didn't know anything. But when I came into reality, I realised I had been equipped to face any challenge.' The road ahead AlMarri is now preparing to return to Dubai Police and hopes to present his work to senior leadership. While the system has not yet been implemented by the police, he believes it could have significant value.'They have done exceptionally,' he said, referring to the force's AI capabilities. '[The technology] works. It can be deployed. It's up to them how they want to use it.' He expressed confidence that Dubai Police, a recognised leader in smart policing, would be well-positioned to integrate the research. 'They've reached a high level of maturity in AI. I believe I'm returning to an entity that can make effective use of what I've worked on, and I hope to contribute to their development journey. If we have this conversation in a year, the impact will be evident,' he said confidently. As for what's next, AlMarri hopes to publish research regularly, mentor young talent, and continue innovating - always with the goal of giving back to his country. 'I've been blessed to be the first Emirati Ph.D. from MBZUAI,' he noted. 'That comes with responsibility. Research is one way to give back, not just to science, but to the UAE.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
CF Chief Douglas seeks funding for street cameras
CHIPPEWA FALLS — The city of Chippewa Falls is once again looking at purchasing street cameras that can read license plates that are credited with solving a myriad of crimes, from locating stolen cars to halting kidnappings. Chippewa Falls Police Chief Ryan Douglas has requested the city purchase several new 'Flock' cameras that can record license plates as vehicles go through the city. 'There are no Flock cameras installed in Chippewa County right now,' Douglas told the city's public safety committee. 'It's a camera that faces the road and takes pictures of the road.' Former Police Chief Matt Kelm requested the city purchase the Flock cameras two years ago, but it didn't pass at that time. The Flock cameras 'are somewhat unique in that they not only detect a license plate number, but the software can also detect type of vehicle, color, unique characteristics, etc.,' Kelm wrote in his fall 2023 budget request. 'Vehicles entered into a wanted list, based upon their involvement in reported criminal acts, that are detected by the (cameras) will cause a real-time alert to be sent to officers that a vehicle for which law enforcement is looking for drove by one of the cameras within the city.' Roughly 5,000 communities in 42 states are using the Flock cameras, the company states on its website. Douglas said he is hopeful of getting six to 10 of the cameras that would be placed along major transportation corridors in city limits. 'We would be connected to this nationwide system,' he told the committee. 'The technology has been there for several years. I do think we are behind the curve in not having this technology in our area.' Douglas said Rice Lake, Menomonie and Eau Claire all have these cameras. Flock cameras have been credited with the arrest of Jose E. Dominguez-Garcia, who killed his pregnant ex-girlfriend and left her body in a suitcase in the town of Wheaton in July 2020. Dominguez-Garcia was arrested in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., in November 2023 after a Flock camera recognized he was driving a stolen vehicle. Dominguez-Garcia was sentenced last month to serve 25 years in prison. That arrest took place months after Kelm had requested the city obtain the cameras. 'It goes into a nationwide database,' he said. 'We've had crimes and missing persons located out of state.' The council members on the committee asked Douglas to set up a meeting with the Flock sales team so they can learn more about how the equipment works, but also to ask questions about how privacy matters are handled. 'I'm torn because I hate the idea of living in '1984,'' said Councilwoman Heather Martell. 'But if they are nationwide, how would we handle The Freedom of Information Act?' Douglas said they are still working on creating a policy for sharing data collected by the cameras. Mayor Jason Hiess said he also is concerned about privacy. Councilman Scott Sullivan said his vehicle was stolen when he lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., and he quickly reported it. Because that city had Flock cameras, the car was located within an hour and was returned to Sullivan. Douglas said he will contact Flock officials and have them come to a future committee meeting to discuss the proposal. Preparing for the fair With the Northern Wisconsin State Fair now just a month away, Douglas said his department has ramped up plans for added security. Douglas said they have increased from having two officers at the fair to six. Also, the fair has its own private security on the grounds. 'We're able to staff it by ourselves right now,' Douglas said. It is common for officers at the fairgrounds to use bicycles, allowing them to get quickly across the fair. Douglas said they did have an officer injured at the fairgrounds last year.
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
Stockton City Council considers banning ski masks to curb crime
STOCKTON — The Stockton City Council is considering a ban on ski masks after a string of crimes involving suspects wearing them. "When you have an 8th grader robbed at gunpoint with people wearing ski masks in a city where there is no snow, you have to address some of those issues," said Vice Mayor Jason Lee. Lee is looking into the idea of introducing a ski mask ban ordinance. "This started months ago, where there was a violent crime in my district where other people were shot and they were wearing ski masks," he said. On May 30, down the street from Delta Sierra Middle School, police say two teenagers and a 31-year-old man were robbed at gunpoint by men in ski masks after a graduation ceremony. "It's a great memory and, unfortunately, this family doesn't have a great memory," said City Councilmember Michelle Padilla, who represents the district where it happened. She supports the idea of a ski mask ban and says that stopping crime starts at home. "They need to ask those questions. Why are you buying that mask? Who are you hanging out with? Where are you going after dark?" she asked. Police say ski masks were also involved in a homicide from March. Recently released police sketches show two people, wearing ski masks that only reveal their eyes, wanted in connection with that homicide. "Where there may have been pockets of crime, it's plaguing our entire city. Now, we have to address the crime that is happening," said Lee. Part of the Stockton City Council hopes that if people are walking the streets of the city wearing a ski mask, they can be stopped and questioned by police. However, some advocates here in Stockton say this doesn't address the root issues that are causing crime. "Violence is rooted in challenging educational conditions, and poverty, and Stockton suffers from both of those," said Nuri Muhammed with Advance Peace Stockton. "So until we can address those two issues, they'll have to do things like a ban on face masks." Vice Mayor Lee says the ordinance could be introduced before summer and would not infringe on religious practices.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Yahoo
New technology helps Lincoln County deputies solve crimes, keep guns off the street
LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — New technology in Lincoln County is helping deputies solve crimes and get guns off the streets. It's a tiny camera with big power. 'It's been extremely helpful as of lately,' said Det. Jake Weathers with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. 'It kind of goes back to you don't know what you did without them.' They're called license plate readers. There are about two dozen of them placed in high-traffic areas across the county. 'They take two separate pictures — one of the back of the car and then a focus up on the license plate area of the car,' said Weathers. 'Then what that does is it stores it in a data bank and we can run it by make and model of the vehicle, color of the vehicle.' The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office has had them for about two months now, and they recently helped crack their first big case. It led to the swift arrest of two people accused of stealing multiple guns from a business. Divine Rodziewicz, 23, and Dashawn Donaldson, 23, are both charged with ten felony counts of larceny of a firearm, and one felony count each of breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, and conspiracy. Deputies tracked down the suspects and recovered five of the stolen firearms using photos taken by the cameras of the suspect vehicle. 'Getting those off the street was our number one priority when it came to this case,' said Weathers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- The Guardian
Valuable tool or cause for alarm? Facial ID quietly becoming part of police's arsenal
The future is coming at Croydon fast. It might not look like Britain's cutting edge but North End, a pedestrianised high street lined with the usual mix of pawn shops, fast-food outlets and branded clothing stores, is expected to be one of two roads to host the UK's first fixed facial recognition cameras. Digital photographs of passersby will be silently taken and processed to extract the measurements of facial features, known as biometric data. They will be immediately compared by artificial intelligence to images on a watchlist. Matches will trigger alerts. Alerts can lead to arrests. According to the south London borough's most recent violence reduction strategy, North End and nearby streets are its 'primary crime hotspot'. But these are not, by any measure, among the capital's most dangerous roads. Its crime rate only ranks as 20th worst out of the 32 London boroughs, excluding the City of London. The plan to install the permanent cameras later this summer for a trial period is not an emergency initiative. North End and nearby London Road could be anywhere. Asked about the surveillance, most shopkeepers and shoppers approached on North End said they had not heard of the police plans, let alone the technology behind it. To some, the cameras will be just another bit of street furniture to go alongside the signs announcing 24-hour CCTV and urging safe cycling. That, some say, should be cause for alarm. Others point to surveys that suggest the public, fed up with a rise in crime, is broadly on side. Police forces started to trial facial recognition cameras in England and Wales from 2016. But documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) and police data analysed by Liberty Investigates and shared with the Guardian, provide evidence of a major escalation in their use in the last 12 months. No longer a specialist tool, it is quietly becoming an everyday part of the police arsenal. Police forces scanned nearly 4.7m faces with live facial recognition cameras last year – more than twice as many as in 2023. Live facial recognition vans were deployed at least 256 times in 2024, up from 63 the year before. Forces are imminently expected to launch a roving unit of 10 live facial recognition vans that can be sent anywhere in the country. Meanwhile civil servants are working with the police to establish a new national facial recognition system, known as strategic facial matcher. The platform will be capable of searching a range of databases including custody images and immigration records. 'The use of this technology could become commonplace in our city centres and transport hubs around England and Wales,' according to one funding document drafted by South Wales police submitted to the Home Office and released by the Metropolitan police under FoI. Campaigners liken the technology to randomly stopping members of the public going about their daily lives to check their fingerprints. They envision a dystopian future in which the country's vast CCTV network is updated with live facial recognition cameras. Advocates of the technology say they recognise the dangers but point to the outcomes. This week David Cheneler, a 73-year-old registered sex offender from Lewisham, in south London, who had previously served nine years for 21 offences, was sentenced to two years in prison for breaching his probation conditions. A live facial recognition camera on a police van had alerted officers to the fact that he was walking alone with a six-year-old child. 'He was on [the watchlist] because he had conditions to abide by', said Lindsey Chiswick, the director of intelligence at the Met and the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on facial recognition. 'One of the conditions was don't hang out with under 14-year-olds. 'He had formed a relationship with the mother over the course of a year, began picking the daughter up at school and goodness knows what would have happened if he hadn't been stopped that day, he also had a knife in his belt. That's an example of the police really [being] unlikely to remember the face and pick the guy up otherwise.' It will be powerful testimony for many – but critics worry about the unintended consequences as forces seize the technology at a time when parliament is yet to legislate about the rules of its use. Madeline Stone from the NGO Big Brother Watch, which attends the deployment of the mobile cameras, said they had witnessed the Met misidentify children in school uniforms who were subjected to 'lengthy, humiliating and aggressive police stops' in which they were required to evidence their identity and provide fingerprints. In two such cases, the children were young black boys and both children were scared and distressed, she said. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'And the way it works is that the higher the threshold the less effective it is at catching people.' Stone added. 'Police will not always necessarily want to use it at those settings. There's nothing in law that requires them to use it at those settings. The idea that the police are being able to write their own rules about how they use it is really concerning.' A judicial review has been launched by Shaun Thompson from London, with the support of Big Brother Watch, into the Met's use of the cameras after he was wrongly identified by the technology as a person of interest and held for 30 minutes as he was returning home from a volunteering shift with Street Fathers, an anti-knife group. There is also the risk of a 'chilling' effect on society, said Dr Daragh Murray, who was commissioned by the Met in 2019 to carry out an independent study into their trials. There had been insufficient thinking about how the use of these cameras will change behaviour, he said. 'The equivalent is having a police officer follow you around, document your movements, who you meet, where you go, how often, for how long,' he said. 'Most people, I think, would be uncomfortable if this was a physical reality. The other point, of course, is that democracy depends on dissent and contestation to evolve. If surveillance restricts that, it risks entrenching the status quo and limiting our future possibilities.' Live facial recognition cameras have been used to arrest people for traffic offences, cultivation of cannabis and failure to comply with a community order. Is this proportionate? Fraser Sampson, who was the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for England and Wales, until the position was abolished in October 2023, is now a non-executive director at Facewatch, the UK's leading facial recognition retail security company which provides systems to companies to keep shoplifters out of their shops. He can see the value in the technology. But he is concerned that regulation and methods of independent oversight have not caught up with the pace at which it is advancing and being used by the state. Sampson said: 'There is quite a lot of information and places you can go to get some kind of clarity on the technology, but actually, when, where, how it can be used by whom, for what purpose over what period of time, how you challenge it, how you complain about it, what will happen in the event that it didn't perform as expected? All those kind of things still aren't addressed.' Chiswick said she understood the concerns and could see the benefit of statutory guidance. The Met was taking 'really quite small steps' which were being reviewed at every stage, she said. With limited resources, police had to adapt and 'harness' the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence. They were well aware of the potential 'chilling effect' on society and its ability to change behaviour, and cameras were not deployed at protests, she added. 'Is it going to become commonplace? I don't know', Chiswick said. 'I think we just need to be a bit careful about when we say [that]. I can think of lots of potential. Like the West End? Yeah, I can see that being, you know, instead of doing this static trial we're doing in Croydon, we could have done it in the West End. And I can see a different use case for that. It doesn't mean we're going to do it.' She added: 'I think we're going to see an increase in the use of technology, data and AI increasing over the coming years, and on a personal level, I think it should, because that's how we're going to become better at our jobs. But we just need to do it carefully.'
