December 14, 2021 (New York, NY) -- With gun violence surging to record highs in recent months, New York's South Asian community is mobilizing intellectual and material resources to help protect communities in New York and around the country. On Tuesday, December 14, 2021, the community will be hosting an event with the aim of bringing together elected officials, policy makers, business owners, academia, along with at-risk members of the community. Brian A. Benjamin, Lt. Governor of New York, Mr. Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, Congressman Gregory Meeks, Congressman Tom Suozzi, Assemblyman David Weprin, District Attorney Melinda Katz, Dr. Sudhir Parikh (Padma Shri Recipient), Mr. Shajahan Merchant, and Dr. Hari Shukla are expected to deliver remarks along with members of the law enforcement community. The event is expected to cover issues ranging from policy to policing and from community engagement to state-of-the-art technology.
For Shajahan Merchant, the creator of threatvision.ai, the gun violence problem is one that can be best addressed with modern technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the extensive network of pre-existing security cameras.
“Gun violence, armed robberies, and burglaries are rampant, it's time that we look for new ways to tackle the issue,” explains Merchant. “We know that AI is revolutionizing many industries and it's time that AI tackle the terrible toll that gun violence is taking on Americans. Every day, more than 100 American lives are lost and more than 1 million are injured every year as a result of gun violence.”
Much like how autonomous vehicle AI detects obstacles in the road before a collision occurs and mitigates the risk, threatvision.ai monitors and detects operational and safety risk in real time using existing video feeds. The live feed can be securely shared with management and law enforcement officials who will be able to see enhanced images with the identified threats and risks highlighted. Having this real-time risk assessment can result in quicker response times and allow for situations to be addressed in a safer and more efficient manner before tragedy strikes.
“We know that many of the people on the front lines of this epidemic of violence are small business owners who own pharmacies, franchisees, gas station, convenience stores, cellphone stores, and jewelry stores. Unfortunately retail stores, luxury retail, hotels, motels, schools, universities, and places
of worship have also been targeted frequently.” explains Merchant. “By working with elected officials, community leaders, business owners, and law enforcement we can mitigate some of the risks that our communities and law enforcement face every day, thereby making the city safer for all New Yorkers.”