Cleveland using new technology to capture images of problem areas in the city

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cleveland city officials are finding new ways to keep track of problem areas in the city. They are using AI to capture real-time images with a program called City Detect.

“It is going to help our staff prioritize their work around the city,” says Elizabeth Crowe, Director of Urban Analytics and Innovation.

Crowe says the program uses a city car equipped with two cameras to take these pictures.

“It is a special camera. Think of a GoPro on steroids that will know where on earth the camera is. So as it drives, it is taking rapid frame rate images,” says Crowe.

Sally Martin O’Toole, the Director of Building and Housing, says they will use these images to focus on problem areas.

This includes rundown and dilapidated houses or buildings, vacant properties, illegal dumping, and graffiti.

“We will know and see it and be able to track it. Furthermore, know when things are completed and when violations have been remedied,” says Martin O’Toole.

The city says that with the old way it was surveying these properties, it would take about 40 employees and six months to complete.

Now, if they use City Detect, it will take only one employee to drive the car and one month to finish.

“Rather than have a person stop at every house, take a picture, and do 50 questions on a checklist, now we are going to have technology help us do that,” says Crowe.

City Detect is expected to start in October as a one-year pilot program.

It will cost about $85,000, which is paid for by a grant from the Rocket Community Fund.

“This is a much better way. It is a way to work smarter. It is a way to have real-time data on what is going on with all the parcels in the city,” says Martin O’Toole.

The car used for this program will be wrapped so that it is visible to everyone who is in the city.

Officials say in the future, if the program is successful, they could use City Detect to help with storm damage and cleanup.