On smart cities, The Wire, and apps for Omar.

PocketCop is mobile technology whose goal is to get police out of their cars and onto the streets, so they can be more efficient and spend time doing real police work:

[Police] can all quickly and easily get the time-critical information they need, without dispatcher involvement and waiting for a verbal response-making everyone more efficient and effective, while reducing support costs and radio traffic. And because communications between users can’t be overheard or monitored by scanners like normal radio traffic, PocketCop is ideal for undercover use or other situations where the officer doesn’t want to draw attention.

With PocketCop, officers are no longer tethered to their vehicles or their radios. They can be where they need to be in the community at any time, and still get the information and communications they depend on to make them smarter and safer.

Which reminds me of The Wire, of course. I can imagine a sixth season that analyzes how smart cities will help combat crime. Please, David Simon. Please say yes….

On a related note, Baltimore police commissioner blasts The Wire.

On the flip side, could you imagine a suite of mobile apps designed to make Stringer, Avon, and Omar’s lives easier?