Multitude Insights raises $10M to modernize intelligence sharing for law enforcement – News

Public safety technology company Multitude Insights Inc. today announced it has raised $10 million in an early-stage funding to scale up its artificial intelligence sharing platform that helps analyze and distribute information across jurisdictions.

The company provides a platform named BLTN, pronounced “bulletin,” that was developed to represent the atomic unit of information provided to police departments and staff about suspects, missing persons or dangerous situations. Also sometimes known as all-points bulletins, or BOLO  for “be on the lookout” alerts, these notices provide essential information needed to coordinate efforts across multiple agencies.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Matt White noted that cops run on information and across the nation most small- and large-scale regions lack systems for analyzing and trading information.

“Officers shouldn’t have to dig through emails or call neighboring departments to find out if someone else has seen the same suspect, vehicle or pattern,” White said. “These professionals are most effective when they’re out in the community, not stuck behind a computer.”

Most law enforcement software remains decades behind and was not designed for real-time intelligence sharing between departments. According to Multitude Insights this means that leads stagnate in email, disappear in list serve or sit in limbo within one agency, meaning that investigations can be blindsided.

“As a department, our priority is always to have our officers out in the community, not tied to a computer screen,” said Detective Lieutenant Kenneth Swift of the Watertown, Massachusetts police department.

Many communities already beleaguered by the use of technology, particularly minorities who face issues of algorithmic bias related to criminal justice, will feel concerned about the effects of AI use in policing. Especially with how artificial intelligence can lead to false positives and privacy issues.

“From a transparency and accountability perspective, BLTN is designed to provide information, not to make decisions,” White told News. “It surfaces patterns and connections, but the final, critical judgment is always made by an officer.”

According to White, the key here is that it provides the necessary information to the people on the ground in a manner where the technology serves humans, not the other way around. People remain accountable when looking for leads and connections between crimes amid different jurisdictions and agencies.

White stressed that the system communicates transparently about conclusions when it makes connections. It’s an intelligence layer and communications medium, not a decision-maker.

It presents source data that drives matches and officers can dive into original documents to use their own judgement to assess the strength of a link between pieces of data. The purpose for this, according to White, is to act as a bulwark against AI drift and hallucinations by putting the final decision in the user’s hands. This includes visual cues in a user interface that shows the nature and the strength of the link indicated, and confidence statements and categories ensuring the officer understands whether the connection is strong or weak.

The Series A round was led by Primary Venture Partners with participation from Commonweal Ventures, Counterview Capital, VSC Ventures, NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, Alumni Ventures, E62 Ventures and Craig P. Abod of Carahsoft Technology.

Multitude Insights said it will use the new capital to expand integrations, grow agency adoption and assist modern law enforcement to operate more efficiently, collaboratively and proactively within communities.

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