Safer City Initiatives – A new Paradigm for Security Operations

Introduction
The policing and security landscape is increasingly complex, unpredictable and
interconnected. More than ever, police and security organisations have to operate in turbulent
environments with unexpected events, high levels of uncertainty and a lack of control, complex
decision making, group inter-dependencies, greater demand for efficiency and high
performance across unclear and blurred boundaries. Policing with this kind of complexity
requires enhanced capabilities in protective security (including tightened controls at ports,
airports and borders) and counter terrorism. There is now a critical need for a holistic approach
to policing that addresses:

 Serious and organised crime

 Counter-terrorism and extremism
 Protecting the vulnerable in society
 Impacts of global instability and conflicts (i.e. the migration crisis)
 Business Continuity and emergency response management
 Major incidents and events
 Critical National Infrastructure policing
Police systems require modernising with higher degrees of integration in order to service the
unrelenting demands of the public in a more sophisticated and effective way. There needs to
be a programme of modernising police systems to deliver better and more flexible resources
to meet the critical requirements of a dynamic and complex policing environment. ICT
infrastructure with multi-channel demand management capability, polices and processes, and
staff capabilities need to be aligned to ensure that they support these evolving and converging
operational requirements. In short, there is a need:

 To better understand the policing and security demands and professionalise the police
response to these
 For better data and voice communication and coordination across security and partner
agencies
 For more proactive monitoring of the security situation and management of emerging
threats
 To better manage both planned and spontaneous events
 For more dynamic and trust based engagement with the communities and to develop
a community services ethos within the security services
 For integrated information and intelligence to ensure that informed decisions are made
(decision advantage) with regard to priority and allocation of the most appropriate
resources in response to calls for assistance and emerging intelligence.
 Ensure that the police are efficient and effective and deliver value for money.

Safer City Initiatives - Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence,

Surveillance, Threat Assessment and Response (C3iStar) Platform
The overall aim of the Safer City Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence,
Surveillance, Threat Assessment and Response (C3iStar) programme is to modernise the
infrastructure, systems and capabilities for the police and other security and public safety
agencies. This is to proactively manage the security situation and to professionalise the
security response to incidents by moving towards more preventive and mission-focused
deployment of resources. The C3iStar platform will provide an integrated suite of technologies
along with an innovative Concept of Operations (ConOps), quality focused processes and staff
capabilities to provide an operational solution that delivers:

 New technology and infrastructure to provide real-time information and intelligence, via
multimedia trunking platform, to facilitate field commanders making evidence based
decisions in operationally critical situations
 Better situational awareness through advanced analytics, relational databases.
Intelligent Video Management System (IVS) and integrated command platform to
ensure that informed decisions are made with regard to priority and allocation of the
most appropriate resources in response to calls for assistance
 Provision of information and intelligence within police and security agencies and the
ability to share this with external agencies to ensure seamless service delivery to the
public and a timely and effective response
 Flexible operational systems that can evolve and expand with the evolving needs
 Increased capacity that acknowledges foreseeable growth profiles in the future.
 Consolidated operational model to optimize cross agency coordination,
communication, and effectiveness of public safety and emergency services delivery.

Technical and Operational Convergence

The Safe City C3iStar solution provides converged multi-agency platform for different
stakeholders, including the Police, other emergency services, Traffic Police, Anti-Terror Units,
intelligence agencies, protection units, local authorities, private sector organisations and
communities.
The technical solution creates an integrated network of sensors and communication platforms
that enable all public safety, law enforcement and other agencies to have access to context-
specific intelligence to manage real time events and to ensure seamless service delivery to
the public and a timely and effective response. This capability permeates the whole
organisation system and is channelled into a ‘networked’ operating model that connects all
the organisational components and assets and, where possible, relevant components of
partner agencies, integrating knowledge with decision support tools and a system of services
and deployments within a wider command and control environment.
The converged platform addresses both the Demand Management and Resource
Management functions within policing and security organisations. Central to its operation is
the ‘Decision Support and Intervention Platform’ which is underpinned by context-specific
intelligence that is made available to the right people, at all levels, in a timely fashion that
allows them to make superior operational decisions, delivering a critical decision superiority
over criminals, terrorists and subversives. The system provides officers and staff with
enhanced operational situation awareness so that the force can see and understand current,
predicted and emergent demands in time and space through a ‘threat, risk, prevention and
reduction’ lens. The organisational ‘system’ can see all available and potentially available
resources including their location, skills, capability and availability. This allows the force to
deploy, allocate or otherwise utilise all resources (people and other resource) in the most
intelligent way against business rules related to harms, threats, risks and other outcome
priorities.
The Safe City platform will ensure that officers will have key ‘contextual situation awareness’
knowledge dynamically available in relation to tasks and deployments, some of which is
automated and delivered through augmented reality and other tools. For example, an officer
deployed to a disturbance at a house might be automatically updated about previous incident
history, current intelligence pertaining to the address, vulnerable individuals associated with
the incident or address and any threats such as a firearms licence held for the address or a
known individual connected to the address that has warning signals in Police systems.
Similarly, officers may have secure hand-held terminals with location services and ‘augmented
reality’ technology that helps them identify key policing tasks (for example, a patrolling officer
who enters a given location/area is automatically alerted / reminded that a suspect lives at a
nearby address and that he is on bail for a serious crime and subject to curfew - this would
allow the officer and his/her supervisors to consider whether the address should be visited to
ensure the curfew is being observed). Such decision support platform can draw data,
information and intelligence from corporate systems and integrating these to create and deploy
key operational and business knowledge products driven by strategy and priorities. This
capability, when linked to an appropriate task management system, can allow police forces to
secure significant leaps forward in productivity and effectiveness by empowering officers and
staff at all levels to make more informed decisions about services, interventions and the use
of resources within a framework of discretion to encourage proportionate and preventive
interventions.

Multi-media Mobile Platform

An integrated, resilient and secure mobile information infrastructure will deliver a more efficient
use of police resources, coupled with better outcomes, enabled through better decision
support to officers. In addition, there will be improved officer safety, enhanced intelligence and
information for patrol officers, supervisors and management. However, Police mobility
requirements are not about merely rolling out of mobile infrastructure or mobile devices. While
it is important to have this infrastructure, these are enabling tools for a new operating model
and a new way of working for the police. These technologies need to be rolled out within a
context of a transformed organisation with clearly defined benefits and identified individuals to
deliver these benefits. Operational processes need to be aligned with the use of mobile
technology to improve efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.

Don’t Forget the People Dimension

One of the major causes of project failure to deliver benefits is underestimating the
transformation activities, particularly getting the people dimension right to ensure that the
policing organisation is ready to benefit from the investment in technology and change. As
police forces and security agencies around the World begin to adopt the Safe City C3iStar and
move towards technology and knowledge enabled operations, there are a number of areas
that need to be addressed as part of the project.
Staff Capability and Capacity Development
In the new Safe City operational model, staff need to be developed so that they are confident,
capable and empowered. Investment in staff development and supporting them in the
acceptance of new technology so that they acquire the knowledge, skills and capabilities to
succeed and progress in the new environment. They must have clear roles and responsibilities
and clear latitude to use discretion and decision authority to deliver services for the
communities and for the organisation.
Aligning the Policing organisation to Safe City Operations
Operational business processes, facilities and ICT infrastructure need to be aligned to ensure
that they support the capacity, capability, efficiency and effectiveness approach supported
through new technologies. There is little value in having cutting edge technology if the roles,
performance measures and the way people are rewarded and promoted encourage other
behaviours. The leadership teams need to be aligned to the transformation and engaged in
driving behaviours and practices to mobilise staff to embrace new ways of working.
There needs to be alignment between the organisational and the individual performance
management systems such that individuals police officers and members of staff can see how
their specific performance and innovation targets fit in with the broader targets for the
organisation. This will also ensure that the right outcomes and behaviours are recognised and
rewarded.
Effective and Efficient Safe City Concept of Operations
There is a need to review and update the operational model to optimize cross agency
coordination, communication, and effectiveness of public safety and emergency services
delivery. With the deployment of Safe City operations infrastructure, the policing operation can
progressively move onto a proactive footing. The new operating model will allow a significant
proportion of police officers to move from merely reacting to events, to being more focused on
preventive action in support of local policing area objectives, aligned with threat, risk and
demand. This will continually prevent, reduce or divert threat, risk and demand as informed
and tasked by the new digital platform and supported through enhanced information and
intelligence access.
The police resources will be deployed through the Safe City platform to align capabilities in
both time and space, so as to resolve problems at the earliest and most cost effective
opportunity. The digital concept will dynamically manage tasking, briefing and debriefing
against threat, risk and demand and continually collect information to monitor and evaluate
strategy, tactics, performance and identify any gaps.
Too often we have seen technology being used to automate and further embed existing out-
dated operational models with the result that there are few actual benefits delivered from the
technology investment. We can work with police forces to ensure that skills and attitudes are
developed at all levels of the organisation to deliver the desired policing outcomes through
digital operations.
Building Leadership for Safe City Operations
Leadership at all levels of the organisation need to be committed to and visibly support the
implementation of Safe City Operations programme through both words and actions. We have
seen that the ability to change with the changing environment is often hindered when
leadership activity is seen as something exercised by the most senior police officers and staff.
Leadership activity is for everyone within the organisation and there is a need to devolve
responsibility and empower staff to think out-of-the-box and deal creatively to deliver the
desired benefits.
Maintaining leadership support throughout the technology implementation and adoption
programme is the key objective for all those involved. Effective leadership in these types of
transformative programmes involves making sense of the situation and explaining it in a way
that is meaningful to operational personnel and the various stakeholders within the police
force. This helps the organisation understand the reason for the change and reinforce the
actions and consequently, the whole organisation moves together.

Dr Amanat Hussain – Chief Operating Officer – BGS Ltd.

Amanat Hussain has a proven track record of delivering large-scale, complex

business transformation and security projects in mission critical environments for
diverse public and private sector organisations. He leads on the Safer City
programmes with a particular focus on Concept of Operations, organisational and
process design, technology, leadership development, and strategic and business
change.

BGS Ltd. is an independent U.K. company providing a ‘portal’ to world class security solution
including policing, criminal justice and national security expertise. We offer a range of services
and support to security and police forces including, business change/transformation
programmes, strategic and specialist advice, consultancy, business improvement and
modernisation.