Civil Municipal View Feb2023

77 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2 SAN JOSE , CAL I FORNI A “That gets residents medical aid as quickly as humanly possible. We’ve also just launched fixed automated plate readers, which plug into a network of cameras at major intersections around the city. It’s been an uphill battle, honestly—we want to make sure we’re doing our due diligence by bringing forward technology to service residents correctly.” Torrico adds that one of the most important aspects of ushering in new information technology is the need for transparency in how data is being used to protect and serve. “We bring things to Council for approval, but we also work with a Data Privacy Officer, who has been absolutely integral in this area,” she says. “From presentations to the council to neighborhood meetings and community- wide listening sessions, we made sure that we had that data privacy policy in place for both our ALPR and gunshot detection solutions before those technologies were deployed.” The city followed a similar approach when it launched body-worn cameras, ensuring that the community was engaged and supportive before implementing the technology. “We’re now using Microsoft Power Bi for crime analytics, we’ve launched public safety dashboards on the police department’s website,” says Torrico. “We’re ensuring that the public is aware of those metrics—areas with higher crash frequencies, mitigation plans, gang statistics. We have such a large department and when you scale things up, it gets expensive. You can add all of this technology, but you need the right support staff to roll it out successfully.” For San Jose, making sure the city is the safest environment possible for residents remains paramount. “The technology at our disposal is truly amazing. But we can only deliver on the mandate if we have the right resources and people to manage those technological advances.”