A U.S. national survey of first responders reveals strong support for AI adoption, cybersecurity concerns, and increasing demand for cloud-native, data-driven, and interoperable CAD and RMS systems to improve efficiency and public safety outcomes, according to Mark43.
“Public safety agencies across the United States are grappling with challenges such as cyberattacks, legacy system outages, and the resilience and efficiency of their operations,” said Bob Hughes, CEO of Mark43. “To address these concerns, first responders are seeking cloud-native, mobile, and data-driven public safety CAD and RMS systems that strengthen security, enhance resilience and also drive efficiency and better outcomes. A strong foundation—with a unified, open, and interoperable CAD and RMS—is essential.”
First responders seek AI for greater efficiency and better results
90% of law enforcement support their agencies using AI, an increase of 55% over last year’s survey. 65% say it would help them be more productive and efficient and 89% think that leveraging AI would help their agencies reduce crime. 88% of law enforcement trust their agencies to use AI responsibly. This is a 29% increase over last year’s survey.
87% of law enforcement believe AI is transforming the public safety industry for the better. The reasons they cite are largely efficiency improvements that include streamlining report writing, speedy data processing, enhanced analytics, more easily locating certain crimes, and generally improving productivity.
First responders are focused on cybersecurity and resilience concerns
84% of law enforcement acknowledge that their organization experienced a cybersecurity issue in the last year. Respondents reported that scam calls, malware and viruses were the top issues. 57% of first responders cite that their RMS is typically unavailable for over 10 hours a year due to software updates, and 54% say the same for their CAD system. Furthermore, 68% of law enforcement have experienced on-premises system outages due to a lack of updated technology.
95% of public safety professionals cited at least one outage or technology malfunction in the last year. This is an increase of 8% over last year’s survey. 85% of first responders believe disruptive events such as power grid failures, hurricanes and wildfires can overwhelm public safety agencies.
89% of law enforcement are concerned with how their agencies running on legacy systems would handle a tactical response during major events like sports, political conventions, concerts or natural disasters and cyberattacks. 83% believe the general public would feel better if their local public safety agencies were required to adhere to federal government security standards, like FedRAMP, which mandates a premier and standardized approach to security and risk assessment for cloud technologies.
Public safety professionals want data-driven public safety for improved outcomes
86% of public safety professionals believe data reporting processes could be improved at their organizations, and cite the top reason is to save time. 72% of law enforcement agencies have a Real Time Crime Center, and 92% report they are effective in enhancing first responder and officer response.
69% of law enforcement reported a Real Time Crime Center would benefit their agency and agencies in their community, with the top three benefits cited as improved intelligence for greater future efficiency, improved public safety and faster response times to emergency calls.
78% of law enforcement agencies use analytics or business intelligence tools to analyze crime and internal data with 87% reporting it would be helpful to have them integrated into the records management system. The top three benefits of these tools that respondents cite are helping them understand crime patterns, increase operational efficiency, and support case investigations and pattern identification.
83% of first responders think there should be greater crime data and statistics transparency with the general public. This sentiment has grown 26% since 2022 in the 2023 U.S. Public Safety Trends Report.
First responders seek an integrated, mobile platform for efficiency
76% of law enforcement have spent more than half their shifts completing paperwork, with 70% having to use overtime to do so. 88% of law enforcement acknowledge that new, modern technology processes would help them better serve the community. 97% of law enforcement agree that tools saving time from typing the same information multiple times in a report would make an impact.
65% of first responders have had to return to a physical location to fill out reports, which is a 7% increase since last year’s survey. Furthermore, 55% of surveyed first responders need to be at their agency’s office to fulfill their duties. However, there is a desire for more flexible working arrangements, including 80% of emergency telecommunicators who would be more likely to extend their career if there were an option for remote work.
51% of law enforcement have to log in to four to six applications for their role on a daily basis. This reflects an industry need for integrated systems that eliminate application silos and streamline manual processes to save time and resources.
88% of law enforcement feel that switching between multiple applications affects their efficiency in completing tasks. 99% of law enforcement states it would be helpful to have a single, consolidated CAD and RMS platform that integrates all of the data sources they currently use.
80% of law enforcement use their mobile phones as part of everyday work tasks. 87% of law enforcement would find it helpful if they had more information about the location they are responding to on their mobile devices, and 82% cite that having CAD and RMS on their mobile devices would increase confidence and efficiency.
63% of law enforcement cited an increase in requests for record expungement due to new state laws, and over 85% find it challenging to manage record sealing or expungement processes in their jurisdictions.
The report identifies the following emerging trends that will impact public safety in 2025 and beyond:
- AI for accelerating public safety operations
- Cybersecurity and resiliency go hand-in-hand
- Data-driven public safety for improved community outcomes
- Comprehensive platform powers innovation
“In 2025, leading public safety agencies will embrace cloud-native systems and AI to enhance efficiency, strengthen cybersecurity and resilience, improve mobility, and optimize resource allocation—ultimately enabling them to serve their communities more effectively,” Hughes concluded.