AI eyes are already being used widely in Jelgava

Already, 945 video surveillance cameras have been installed in the city. Most of them are equipped with artificial intelligence, which helps to detect violations and dangerous situations. With this system, the Jelgava municipal police recorded more than 3,500 violations and crimes last year.

The Jelgava Digital Centre was established three years ago to bring together information technology development, citizen safety monitoring, and civil protection solutions in one place. The city has established an extensive video surveillance network, accompanied by artificial intelligence.

"We work intensively with the security services, and they tell us about various scenarios, how we could proactively see some events, dangerous elements. For example, if a resident holds his hands in the air for more than 40 seconds, then someone is probably threatening him from behind. If a person has fallen down for more than 40 seconds, lying motionless, he probably needs to call emergency services," said Ilze Āboliņa, head of the Jelgava Digital Centre.

The city environment is monitored at the operational information center, where 12 municipal police officers work continuously.

"If there is a crisis, the doors open and we stand in the middle. There is an operator who is in contact with the residents. And in crisis situations, we hear with one ear what is happening with the residents, who is calling and what about. And with the other we see what is happening in our city environment," Āboliņa described.

The centre combines more than 20 different monitoring systems in one place, including traffic flow, traffic light control, and meteorological data. The video surveillance system is also used in crisis situations, Āboliņa explained:

"The floods and storms two years ago are classic. We spent five days here because there was a crisis situation. We see all kinds of data, for example from drones. We have to make decisions immediately. Mostly, I sit here, all the services sit around me, and then we see what data we have, what we need, what decisions we have to make." 

With the help of video surveillance cameras, the Jelgava municipal police recorded more than 3,500 violations last year. Most of them were violations of road traffic rules. In 298 cases, drunk people were found in public places and there were 208 cases of alcohol consumption in public. 135 other violations and nine fights were also recorded. 

There are no such centers elsewhere in Latvia yet, so representatives of many municipalities have travelled to find out in person about its operations and costs. Since the centre has been operating for three years, it is not possible to give specific costs, but they are estimated to total 6 to 8 million euros. 

"As soon as we started implementing this, there was already an [unexpected] effect, because we saw much more. The number of violations increased because we saw more. And only when we started working proactively, the number of violations by residents began to fall," said Āboliņa.

Last year, the center received almost 10,000 reports from residents, which, together with video surveillance, helped emergency services respond in a timely manner.