In the Field With Policing Tech: Two Systems That Actually Changed the Job

I’ve seen plenty of flashy demos in my career—slick PowerPoints about “next-gen policing” that never make it past the pilot phase. But every so often, you run into tech that actually shifts the ground under your feet. Two deployments I watched up close prove how different the outcomes can be when the tools work and when leadership backs them up.

Case 1: License Plates That Talk Back

A few years ago, I was working with a neighbourhood security committee in Fort Worth when they decided to try out Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers. I’ll admit, I was skeptical. Another camera system promising to solve everything? We’d heard that before.

But within weeks, the results started rolling in. Cars tied to burglaries were being flagged before they even made it past the subdivision gates. Police weren’t chasing shadows—they had actionable leads. One sergeant told me straight: “This system cut our time on vehicle cases in half.” And the numbers backed it up: vehicle-related crimes dropped from a couple a month to barely a handful across the whole year.

Was it perfect? No. A few false alerts, and the inevitable arguments about privacy. But it turned a soft target into a community that criminals actively avoided.

Case 2: AI Against Human Trafficking

Fast forward to Nagpur, India. I had the chance to observe Operation Shakti, where the local police paired facial recognition with an AI tool called Garuda Drishti. This wasn’t theory—this was boots on the ground, officers raiding brothels and trafficking hotspots based on real-time alerts.

The AI scanned social media for fake job ads and escort listings, flagging patterns humans would have missed. Then the facial recognition cameras did their part, spotting known offenders in crowded markets. Within weeks, the police had shut down multiple rackets.

What struck me most wasn’t the tech—it was the mindset. Commissioner Ravinder Singal put it bluntly during a briefing: “We are not chasing cases after they happen anymore. We are stopping them before they start.”

That’s a cultural shift. When police trust the system enough to act on it, the entire dynamic of enforcement changes.

The Takeaway

I’ve seen enough overhyped gear to know not every system is worth the investment. But these two examples—one in Texas suburbs, one in the heart of India—prove that when the tech is solid and leadership actually commits, results follow.

For the rest of us in the security business, the lesson is simple: demand proof, not promises. Look for deployments where the numbers moved, where officers can tell you how their job changed. Because in this line of work, nothing speaks louder than a system that makes the bad guys’ lives harder—and the good guys’ jobs safer.