Stockholm police announced a plan to place hundreds of microphones in the Järva area of Stockholm in order to automatically alert authorities to crimes in progress as they can identify screams and other sounds.
The project is the first of its kind in Sweden and will see hundreds of microphones placed in Järva, a heavily migrant-populated suburb of Stockholm considered to be a no-go zone by many.
The microphones will be able to automatically differentiate various sounds and when they hear particular sounds, like a woman screaming gunshots or explosions, the microphones should automatically alert police in the area through text or email Sveriges Radio reports.
Police expect that the system will be fully operational at some point in 2018 and claim that the new project could reduce their response time by an average of two minutes.
Authorities also made a note to mention that the system would not be used to record private conservations of individuals and that all the recordings would not be saved.
The Järva police force has been plagued with problems in recent months due to a lack of personnel. A report from 2016 found up to 80 percent of Swedish police had considered switching careers and that as many as three officers quit the force every day.
Earlier this year it was revealed that the final remaining police station in the troubled area was forced to close its doors. Swedish terror expert Magnus Ranstorp said the move was a “disaster” and added, “They should open four more instead!”
Last December, migrant residents of the area protested the epidemic of criminality in the suburbs with many of them claiming that the real problem was “colonisation” despite Sweden never historically being a colonial power.
In other areas, like the suburb of Rinkeby, the government has put forward plans to build a new, and more secure, police station in the area but the plans have been hindered by the fact that no construction companies are willing to take on the job due to the danger of the area.