Axon discusses the technology stack for safer communities

In a post-COVID-19 pandemic world, rates of crime and violence have grown to and maintained record highs, reports Axon.

In 2023 across the US, communities averaged an over 241 aggravated assault rate per 100,000 residents creating unsafe public areas and a depreciated way of life due to safety concerns (Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2023 Update – Council on Criminal Justice).

These trends aren’t isolated to the US, however, with countries around the world experiencing the same level of violence and diminished perception of safety in the cities they live.

This violence and crime are most visible and widely discussed in retail, where retail shrink and organised retail crime (ORC) dominates news cycles and fundamentally disrupt people’s ability to live and provide for their families safely. 

In fact, there were 614 violent incidents in 2023 that occurred globally in retail locations leading to 681 fatalities (D-Ddaily.net).

These numbers nearly match record highs from 2022, continuing the trend of violence and safety concerns for frontline retail associates.

These issues are not isolated to specific retailers, as the National Retail Federation (NRF) surveyed all retailers and found that 67% of retailers reported an increase of aggression and violence in 2023 compared to 2022 (2023 Retail Security Survey). 

Retail associates are the victims of this rise in crime and violence within store locations.

In a recent survey, 74% of store associates reported feeling unsafe in stores with 71% reporting a feeling of a lack of investment from the company in employee safety.

Further, 44% reported a fear of returning to the store after an incident, creating an employment gap and uptick in turnover. The result of this violence not only affects frontline workers but also communities at a whole.

In 2023, over 45% of retailers adjusted specific store operating hours, with nearly 30% reducing or altering in-store product selections and 28% closing store locations all together due to the rise of violence (2023 Retail Security Survey).

Communities become food deserts without nearby grocery options, downtowns become empty as cornerstone tenants vacate, jobs disappear and tax dollars are no longer infused into communities. 

To improve safety, communities turn to law enforcement to solve crimes and violence, but law enforcement can’t solve the issue alone.

Law enforcement agencies around the globe are facing resourcing issues including recruitment and maintaining services.

In the US, 78% of departments report difficulty in recruiting qualified candidates (The State of Recruitment: A Crisis for Law Enforcement – International Association of Chiefs of Police) with 25% of agencies reducing or eliminating services due to staffing difficulties (Columbia Southern University).

Even with adequate resources, law enforcement cannot respond to the increased calls due to retail crime and violence, leading to a gross under-reporting issue on retail crime.

In the UK, 56% of retailers (BRC Crime Survey 2022) surveyed reported no longer reporting crimes and violence to law enforcement for a multitude of reasons including slow or inexistent police response as well as a growing expectation that these incidents are now commonplace. 

As retailers, communities and law enforcement struggle to solve this new crisis of violence, many have turned to technology to fill gaps and augment safety and security solutions.

However, these technology solutions operate in a silo and often fail to integrate with existing technology, leaving end users with multiple logins and disparate systems to manage.

While technology was supposed to offload workload, it often creates more inefficient daily operations making matters worse. 

“The driver of safer outcomes”

As more solution providers have turned to niche solutions and closed-APIs, Axon has launched Axon for Physical Security, the leading operating system for public and private collaboration. 

Axon was founded in 1993 with the mission to Protect Life. Over the last 30 years, Axon has become synonymous with public safety and has built long-standing partnerships and relationships with the largest law enforcement agencies globally.

Through collaboration and truly understanding customers’ needs and market trends, Axon led the creation of three major waves of technology in public safety, TASER energy weapons, body-worn cameras and cloud software, while also supporting additional needs for customers from VR Simulation Training to real-time video communications and AI-driven records management systems.

Today, that suite includes integrated technology designed to deter, de-escalate, add transparency to all interactions and protect the lives of those that serve our communities. 

“Communities are where we all live and when they become more dangerous and more violent, it impacts us all,” explains Rick Smith, CEO, Axon Enterprise.

“It changes the quality of our life, our comfort going out and enjoying time with our families and friends.

“In order for society to function well, it needs to function safely. Axon for Physical Security can play an enormous role in rebuilding safety within our community by deploying the right integrated technology in the right place with the right people to deter the small actions before they accumulate into bigger problems.”

Axon for Physical Security is the industry’s first end-to-end operating system that can streamline and supercharge current security and safety postures.

Axon for Physical Security features integrated first and third-party sensors and software with flagship products including body-worn cameras, Fusus by Axon, Axon Evidence and other partnerships.

Axon’s open API platform offers a growing library of 100+ third-party and integration-ready security solutions in an app-store experience to create a customisable tech stack for the future of safety and security. 

With all the necessary technology and hardware integrated into the same platform, end users are able to respond, investigate and collaborate all in real-time with a single login.

This operating system allows teams to build the security operation center (SOC) of the future with the technology they have, streamlining security postures without significant capital expenditures replacing existing technology. 

In order to enhance the platform, Axon announced an extensive partnership and integration with Auror to include real-time crime intelligence to the industry-leading operating system.

Through this partnership, users can leverage Auror’s AI-enabled insights to connect the dots between past and current crimes, accelerating investigations and capturing high impact offenders in real-time.

Together, Axon and Auror can protect more lives in more places to create safer communities. 

“We, at Axon, want to be the driver of safer outcomes,” adds Josh Isner, President, Axon. “Communities are facing a lot of pain right now – they’re having to manage a lot of violence and rising crime rates. These are real problems that need real solutions.

“We believe that Axon for Physical Security and our new partnership with Auror provides the complete tech stack for all industries, from law enforcement to private security to retail asset protection leaders to healthcare security teams and more, to collaborate and build safer communities.”

Axon for physical security in action

Violent incidents typically start as small problems that escalate into catastrophic situations.

Axon for Physical Security provides safety and security teams with real-time visibility and the technology to neutralise threats quicker to maintain safety and mitigate violence.

Currently, safety and security teams are hindered by having to log-in to multiple platforms to gather all necessary information when a critical incident occurs.

With Axon Physical Security OS, teams are now able to view everything in a single pane of glass in real-time and leverage AI to automatically detect and alert threats.

Hypothetically, here’s how Axon for Physical Security can work for a retail environment: A vehicle enters the parking lot where fixed cameras capture the license plate and run it through a retailer’s hot list of high impact offenders.

The GSOC is alerted immediately of the vehicle as a hit on the license plate flags a repeat offender and provides the GSOC with the names of all those associated with the vehicle.

While the group is parking the car, the GSOC runs this information through Auror to find that these associated people have stolen over $300,000 worth of merchandise across over 10 locations in the last 20 days and are involved in over five active investigations.

The GSOC begins to pull all available cameras, including those on LiveView Technologies trailers, at and around that store through Fusus to have a real-time view of the situation.

As the group exits the car and approaches the store, cameras equipped with AI detect firearms and notify the GSOC who are already watching the same feed and confirm the weapon.

With conditional sharing and the real threat of fatal violence, the retailer shares live feeds with law enforcement and alerts local security offers through their body-worn cameras.

Concurrently, the GSOC locks the doors that the group is approaching through the Fusus integration with their access system.

A drone, operated by a local law enforcement team and located on the roof of a nearby facility, launches in advance of the officer’s arrival to give a birds-eye view of the situation.

The group of armed criminals are unable to enter the store and begin trying to forcefully enter, all while the GSOC and law enforcement teams watch the live feeds from all cameras including body-worn cameras.

Before the group can even enter the store, a responding officer arrives and is able to de-escalate and detain the criminals before a single shot is fired.

There is no theft from the store, and, more importantly, everyone remains safe. 

This scenario and the safer outcome is all possible and available today with Axon for Physical Security.

Deploying this operating system does not require a rip-and-replace investment but rather integrates with existing technology to force multiply current security postures.

Everyone deserves the right to go to work, to shop for food, to provide life-saving care, and to live in communities without feeling unsafe. Axon for Physical Security is the technology stack for safer communities.