Anti-Social Behaviour in Public Spaces: A Smarter Approach

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a growing issue in public spaces, costing millions of pounds in damage, impacting public safety and causing distress to people across communities. Despite this, 57% of ASB victims and witnesses don't report it*, making it very difficult to proactively police.

At Purple Transform, we are committed to addressing this gap through advanced AI-driven analytics. With funding from Connected Places Catapult and the Department for Transport, we’re building a business case to demonstrate the impact of AI in detecting ASB to enable police and staff to act proactively.

Many ASB incidents happen in plain view of CCTV cameras. However, the vast majority are unmonitored, leaving crucial incidents unnoticed and unaddressed. Smart analytics offers a proactive approach to ASB detection, alerting staff and police only when required. To truly make a difference, however, we need analytics systems that not only detect incidents as they occur, but also incidents before they escalate.
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Richard Osborne, CTO of Purple Transform, states:
‍"Anti-social behaviour doesn’t just cause emotional distress, evidence has shown it is deterring people from using public transport. By harnessing AI-powered analytics, we can help police and staff move from reactive to proactive strategies that prevent incidents before they escalate, not just on transport but in any public area."

Our SiYtE platform can analyse multiple data points across camera and audio analytics to detect and predict anti-social behaviour events. As an example, aggressive behaviour is often preceded by shouting and changes in people flow. SiYtE can detect the noise and people flow profiles of aggressive behaviour, loitering, graffiti and criminal damage. By integrating multiple data points, we provide a comprehensive, ethically compliant solution that provides the insights needed to act swiftly and effectively.

"Our platform is designed to work with existing infrastructure, making it easier for cities to adopt smarter analytics without major overhauls," adds Richard. "We’re not just collecting data, we’re turning it into actionable insights that can make public spaces safer for everyone."

Key Outcomes of SiYtE for ASB:

o   PREVENT: Alert staff or police in real time to a detected ASB event, alongside redacted images of the event.

o   PREDICT: SiYtE insights dashboard for staff to understand hotspots and plan proactive patrols or mitigating actions appropriately.

o   PROSECUTE: Creation of automated evidence packs with each event to save police and staff time.

*Resolve