The Pilots

Five pilot cities have been selected to test the CITYCoP system developed by the project, where a training scheme will be developed to assist both officers and citizens in the uptake of the solution.

BUCHAREST

Pilot activities in Romania spanned three events from October 2016 to March 2018.

2016 - The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (GIRP) hosted a pre-pilot session in October 2016 that brought together Senior level officials and officers from the GIRP, the municipal police and various partners from the CITYCoP team. The focus of the event was to present the findings of the extensive community policing and technology research; to provide an overview of the technological concept in development; and how this would be applied in during the pilot phase of the project.

2017 - The SecureU training event was the next step in the process leading up to the deployment of the system for the pilot. This one-day event in July 2017, hosted in partnership with the National Intelligence Academy (MVNIA), was designed to provide a full spectrum of community policing training to officers of the GIRP that focused on the following streams

Trust
Engagement
Commitment
Privacy and Data Protection
Mutual Learning

This also included a segment on the SecureU mobile app, back-end system for the police, and how it would work in application with users from the community.

2018 - The Pilot of the SecureU system was a two-phased approach, beginning in February and concluding in March 2018. After internal assessment and evaluation, the mobile app was tested by a group of citizen and police users. The presentation of findings will be delivered at the CITYCoP final conference, 17-18 April in Florence.

LISBON

Pilot and Serious Gaming activities spanned several events from February 2017 and will conclude in April 2018.

2017 - In February 2017, the CITYCoP team provided an overview of the project and its objectives to Public Security Police (PSP) officials at their National and Metropolitan headquarters. These events were followed by site visits to their national communications center and Estrela Parish offices.

During these events, the CITYCoP team had the opportunity to present research findings and offer a first glance at the technology in development -but importantly- to also expand on how technology in combination with knowledge, could provide solutions that improve citizen engagement.

The CITYCoP team returned again in July 2017, to provide a full spectrum of community policing training to officers of the PSP that focused on the following streams

Trust
Engagement
Commitment
Privacy and Data Protection
Mutual Learning

This also included a segment on the SecureU mobile app, back-end system and how it would work in application with users from the community.

Following the pre-pilot and training events, CITYCoP partners from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) were hosted as guest lecturers at the PSP training academy. During this one-week period, the visiting professors had the opportunity to present the ‘OneCity’ serious gaming application, which designed to aid both police and community members in various aspects of community engagement. The visiting professors also had the opportunity to attend the annual Web Summit in Lisbon where they met with executives from various tech firms and conducted several interviews about the CITYCoP project with local media.

2018 - Activities regarding the SecureU pilot will be delivered at the CITYCoP final conference, 17-18 April in Florence.

FLORENCE

The pilot activities in Florence spanned three events from March 2017, concluding in March 2018.

2017 - In March 2017 the CITYCoP team conducted the pre-pilot meeting with officials from the City of Florence Municipal Police, the Florence City Council and various operational personnel. In addition to the presentation of the project and its anticipated application in Florence, the CITYCoP team was also briefed by police personnel responsible for urban security and community policing. Importantly - and unique to Florence - was how community policing programs work in a municipal environment. The CITYCoP project by design includes national, state and municipal police force participants.

The CITYCoP team returned again in July 2017, to provide a full spectrum of community policing training to officers of the Florence Municipal Police that focused on the following streams

Trust
Engagement
Commitment
Privacy and Data Protection
Mutual Learning

This also included a segment on the SecureU mobile app, back-end system and how it would work in application with users from the community.

2018 - The Pilot of the SecureU system was a two-phased approach, beginning in January and concluding in March 2018. After internal assessment and evaluation, the mobile app was tested by a group of citizen and police users, with approximately 135 reports received for various issues ranging from parking to gender violence. The police were importantly able to deliver over 50 detailed alerts to the community. A detailed presentation of findings will be delivered at the CITYCoP final conference, 17-18 April in Florence.

IRELAND

Pilot activities, took place in two locations in September 2017, February 2018 and will conclude in April.

2017 - In September 2017, the CITYCoP team conducted the SecureU training for Guards and provided informational sessions for other members of the organization.

In addition to covering the streams (Trust, Engagement, Commitment, Privacy and Data Protection and Mutual Learning) as outlined for the other pilot locations, the team observed the control room operations at the Store Street Garda Station and also conducted a site visit at the Naas Garda Station in Kildare.

Since joining the CITYCoP project in 2017, the An Garda Síochána has become the only law enforcement agency that is hosting two pilot locations. Having a proven community policing program instituted by Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy, the Garda were uniquely suited to incorporate the SecureU system into their existing operations in Dublin. In support of this model, the Garda chose the CITYCoP project, and the SecureU platform as the perfect opportunity to provide another channel of engagement in a rural setting with the community members of County Kildare.

2018 - In February 2018, the Garda hosted two launch sessions for the SecureU pilot. The first session in Naas (in County Kildare) had over 25 participants that included local officials and community representatives. The second session in Dublin had approximately 20 participants that also included members from the business community and the Garda press office. The objective being to conduct initial testing, evaluation and eventual expansion of users throughout the remainder of the project.

The pilot activities are still in progress at both locations, and detailed presentation of findings will be delivered at the CITYCoP final conference, 17-18 April in Florence.

This project has received funding from the European
Unionʼs Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under grant agreement N° 653811.
Any communication resulting from the CITYCoP project only reflects the author's view. The Research Executive Agency (REA) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.