Ex-Sight Technology Covered by BBC (Horizons) with Adam Shaw

It's clear that whilst you can find mounted police on almost every street corner, it is technology that supports and aids them in their unending fight against criminal activity. At military police headquarters I am shown a demonstration of FotoCrim, a technology which links information about crimes occurring in real time, with an extensive database of over half a million known criminals. It can highlight particular streets where levels of crime are high, locate criminals who live nearby and show the known associates of those criminals. This information is then distributed out to officers in the field who carry portable tablet computers, allowing them an extra advantage in trying to stay one step ahead in the pursuit of criminals. As this technology is refined and the database is further cross-referenced, it is hoped that investigations will be streamlined and allow for a more efficient use of police resources. Another weapon in the technological arsenal is their coordinated "eagle eye" system which incorporates video feeds which can be pulled from cameras mounted on helicopters, motorcycles and even on officers themselves, via a special backpack. The urban environment in a busy city like Sao Paulo is wildly unpredictable, but by using the bandwidth from six mobile phone networks, they are able to coordinate their intelligence and reconnaissance to improve their efficiency out in the field. The central hub can pick up feeds from up to three sources at any one time, giving a multi-angle view at (or above) street level. This can then contribute to the remobilisation of officers on the ground as well as spotting potential trouble spots ahead of time. Real time intelligence like that has helped dramatically reduce crime as well as helping them to manage large crowds, control traffic and monitor road accidents. In the past 10 years theft and robberies are down and homicides have reduced by 80%. Obviously policy and management of the issues have contributed to these figures, but the police force in Sao Paulo state really believe that a technological approach has made a significant contribution to reducing these figures. The next innovation is already being trialled -- a pair of glasses which can be worn by policeman which together with face recognition software identifies known trouble makers in crowds. This isn't just a policing revolution, it's a business one as well. By 2015 it's thought the global security services industry will be worth a massive 219 billion dollars. Security innovations are not only limited to the urban cityscapes of Brazil. This episode also sees Saima travelling to Delhi to look into the huge problem of fake drugs in India, where there are huge amounts currently flooding the market. This black market is predicted to grow by four times over the next ten years, and globally the counterfeit pharmaceutical market is estimated to be worth $200 billion.