Public safety agencies stand at the crossroads of innovation and necessity, where technology is reshaping how first responders protect and serve. In September 2024, Mark43 commissioned an independent survey of law enforcement and first responders to delve into their essential duties and uncover what key trends will influence them in the year ahead. Key findings include:
- AI will continue to accelerate public safety operations.
- Cybersecurity and resilience go hand in hand.
- Data-driven public safety improves community outcomes.
- Comprehensive and interoperable platforms power innovation.
How can public safety agencies harness modern technology to spend more time in the community, accelerate investigations with real-time insights, and tackle crime with seamless, interoperable systems? Let’s dive in.
AI will continue to accelerate public safety operations.
One of the clearest mandates and year-over-year increases in the survey is using AI to accelerate public safety operations. Nearly all (90%) respondents support their agencies using AI, an increase of 55% over last year’s survey!
This doesn’t mean agencies need to implement AI across all operations. By starting with repetitive tasks, such as producing repetitive text in reports and summarizing investigations, public safety professionals can save time and focus on the police work they signed up for.
AI isn’t only brilliant at repetitive paperwork; it can even help extract information from body-worn camera footage, 911 call transcripts and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) data and inject it into a report. However, AI is, and always should be, an assistive technology; a human expert directly involved in the case always should review and approve the content that AI suggests.
AI also can help us make quick and important decisions. It can interpret diverse information from multiple sources, create context, present it for review and decrease emergency response time. For example, a dispatcher often has to make a snap decision based on lots of information. AI can support by suggesting the most logical units that should respond. The time savings can make a dramatic difference in emergency response.
AI also can provide better situational awareness and improve officer safety. AI can surface information that could, for example, inform an officer that a location may be more dangerous than perceived.
Cybersecurity and resilience go hand in hand.
The unfortunate reality is that cybersecurity issues and resulting downtime incidents in public safety are much higher than anyone except criminals would want. Eighty-four percent of law enforcement respondents say their agency experienced a cybersecurity issue, and a near-total majority (95%) of public safety professionals cite at least one outage or technology malfunction in the last year.
One of the best defenses against both downtime and cyberattacks is cloud-native systems. They protect against downtime and cyberattacks because they’re running on highly resilient cloud infrastructure from companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), which have virtually limitless resources to ensure uptime and cybersecurity. Cloud infrastructure companies like AWS also have data centers in various distributed locations. If one data center has issues, other data centers seamlessly resume the work.
Cloud-native systems also enable access from anywhere. If there is a power outage or natural disaster at a public safety answering point (PSAP), dispatchers can perform their work at another unaffected location with just a laptop and an air card. Cloud-native systems can even help one agency support other neighboring agencies whose systems are down.
Data-driven public safety improves community outcomes.
Although most private industries decades ago were quick to adopt data-driven approaches to everything from supply-chain management to sales and marketing personalization, data is now the currency of public safety agencies as well. Three-quarters (78%) of law enforcement agencies are now using analytics or business intelligence tools to analyze crime and internal data. This helps them surface and understand crime patterns, increase operational efficiency, support case investigations and report to their communities. What better application of analytics is there than improving our safety, environment and welfare?
Real time crime centers (RTCCs) are also a big trend. They’re transforming public safety, helping to fight crime and improving efficiency by unifying large amounts of data. RTCC data sources include closed-circuit television (CCTV), body-worn cameras, automatic license plate readers, shot detection, alarm systems, and geolocation data. The majority (63%) of first responder agencies have an RTCC, and 91% say RTCCs are effective in enhancing first responder and officer response. Smart operations will continue to be even more essential this year.
Comprehensive and interoperable platforms power innovation.
Data-driven public safety requires modern platforms and mobile devices to support it. Eighty-seven percent of first responders say that modern technology processes would help them better serve the community.
Modern technology processes benefit from having CAD and records management systems (RMS) in a platform from a single vendor. The advantages would include seamless integration for information sharing and improved officer safety. An integrated platform also would reduce the burden of data entry, which would improve morale and accuracy in reporting and crime-fighting.
However, it’s not possible (nor wise) to have every application or system from one vendor, so it’s important that core systems and vendors work well with other secondary systems. One way to do this is by procuring software that has open application programming interfaces (APIs) for easy integration.
Eighty-seven percent also would find it helpful if they had more information about the location they are responding to on their mobile devices, and 82% say that having their RMS and CAD on their devices would increase their confidence and efficiency. Ensuring that first responders have information in the field on their mobile devices is mission-critical, because it improves officer safety, situational awareness and outcomes. Technology should go where first responders’ missions take them, and agencies should push information to the responder closest to the community member — for the best outcomes for all.
The future of public safety lies at the intersection of technology and community impact. By embracing AI, bolstering cybersecurity, leveraging data-driven insights, and investing in interoperable platforms, agencies can work smarter, respond faster, and keep their focus where it matters most: protecting and serving their communities. In 2025 and beyond, the agencies that adapt to these trends will lead the way.
Unlock the survey data and download the full 2025 U.S. Public Safety Trends Report now.
