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What if America tried to eliminate crime instead of just reacting to it? Not with slogans, but with staffing, technology, and strategy scaled to the problem. In this episode, Erik Torenberg speaks wi...
Garrett Langley (Flock Safety CEO) and Ben Horowitz (a16z) discuss a comprehensive strategy to eliminate crime in America through technology, staffing reform, and policy changes. They detail Las Vegas's successful experiment using license plate readers, drones, and AI-powered crime centers to achieve 90%+ murder clearance rates while reducing police use of force by 75%. The conversation covers practical solutions including a 'Teach for America' model for policing, the critical role of intelligence over mass incarceration, and how public-private partnerships can transform law enforcement with minimal budget increases.
Garrett outlines a comprehensive national crime reduction strategy focusing on three areas: creating a 'Teach for America' program for law enforcement to solve staffing crises through student debt forgiveness, deploying technology products like gunshot detection and drones with AI orchestration, and enforcing accountability through prosecution. The discussion emphasizes how cultural stigma has created a police staffing crisis more than actual shortages.
Ben explains why intelligence is the only viable path between high crime and harsh punishment models like Singapore's. Intelligence makes everyone safer - suspects and police - by providing certainty of punishment rather than severity. The discussion covers how criminals closely monitor policing practices and adjust behavior accordingly, making deterrence through technology more effective than either doing nothing or draconian sentencing.
Garrett breaks down five reasons murder clearance rates dropped to 47% nationally (53% chance of getting away with murder). Factors include higher evidence standards (positive), zero witness cooperation due to lack of protection, shift from domestic to random crime, evidence volume outpacing technology/skills, and staffing crisis leaving departments with inexperienced 21-year-olds replacing seasoned detectives who retired early.
Ben shares surprising results from Las Vegas's technology deployment: community overwhelmingly supports it despite press criticism, and police shootings of suspects dropped 75% when cameras and drones were implemented. The technology provides full intelligence that eliminates dangerous unknown situations. Even Dr. Dre (famous for 'Fuck the Police') took photos with cops in front of Cybertrucks, showing cultural shift.
Ben illustrates how Flock cameras transform policing from dangerous guesswork to precision. Without Flock, police pull over wrong person driving similar car, creating tense situation that can escalate. With Flock, they know it's the right person, send a team, apprehend safely. This builds community trust by eliminating false arrests and enables the witness cooperation that drives Vegas's 90%+ murder clearance rate.
The model of private funding for police technology is spreading nationally. Police budgets are mostly fixed headcount with no flexibility for marginal technology investments. Private companies and individuals have mutual incentives for safety - Lowe's supports Mooresville PD because thousands of employees live there. Ben transformed Vegas 911 (5-minute wait times) to under 30 seconds by buying ice machine, espresso machine, and gym - tiny investments with massive impact.
Garrett argues privacy criticisms of Flock are misplaced - if government wants to find you, cell phone dumps are far more effective than license plate readers. The real issue is trust in police departments. Flock cameras only capture public spaces (no privacy expectation) and highlight existing trust problems. When communities don't trust police, they don't want them to have guns or technology. Flock provides transparency tools so communities can verify how technology is used.
Ben and Garrett separate prison reform from law enforcement. US recidivism is 70%+ vs under 40% in countries with better rehabilitation. Most prisoners are 'betas' who followed bad friends, not psychopaths, but prison trains them to be harder criminals. Vegas's Hope for Prisoners program has near-zero recidivism by teaching reentry skills and job placement. However, prison reform cannot come at expense of law enforcement - that punishes victims on behalf of criminals.
Garrett reveals the sophistication of modern organized crime - Eastern European and South American gangs running large-scale businesses. Example: buy legitimate freight forwarder, receive semis full of product, disappear after a month with tens of millions in goods sold on Facebook Marketplace. San Francisco's shoplifting decriminalization wasn't about hungry people - organized gangs systematically emptied stores, shut down the big mall, eliminated all shopping in the city.
Garrett paints the future: intelligent, precise policing using integrated sensors and AI. Real example: mentally unwell shooter identified via Flock at mall, drone launched from half-mile away, tattoo spotted confirming identity, plainclothes officers make safe arrest with overhead protection - no one else aware, no SWAT team, no deaths. City council response: 'we need drones everywhere.' Agentic AI layer will handle jobs no one wants (night shifts) while officers spend more time with community, less on paperwork.
The Crime Crisis In America and How Technology Fixes It
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