Microsoft to sell police analytics toolkit, with New York taking 30pc cut

Microsoft has partnered with the city of New York to develop and sell a law enforcement software kit called the Domain Awareness System.

The real-time analytics system, unveiled on Wednesday, aggregates streams of data from CCTV cameras, radiation detectors and licence-plate readers, and correlates them with database information to speed up the response time of law enforcement and counterterrorism authorities.

Microsoft will now market the Domain Awareness System (DAS) across the US and elsewhere in the world, and New York's administration will pocket 30 percent of all the revenues.

"This new system capitalises on new powerful policing software that allows police officers and other personnel to more quickly access relevant information gathered from existing cameras, 911 calls, previous crime reports and other existing tools and technology," New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

"It will help the NYPD do more to prevent crimes from occurring and help them respond to crimes even more effectively. And because the NYPD built the system in partnership with Microsoft, the sale of the product will generate revenue for the City that will fund more new crime-prevention and counter-terrorism programmes."

City authorities said the system would make it easier to figure out geospatial crime patterns, track vehicles and work out who had left a suspicious package somewhere and when they left it. They also said it would allow for smarter deployment of resources, as the system would give authorities a clearer picture of where those resources were needed.

New York City authorities can look forward not only to a revenue cut from future sales of the system, but also "access to any innovation derived from the sale of the system to new customers", the statement indicated.