AI in Traffic Enforcement: What Cities Can Learn About Safety, Integration, and Monitoring

This March, New York City introduced one of the largest traffic‑safety upgrades in the country. Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to quadruple the city's red‑light cameras, expanding from 150 to 600 intersections.

While this sounds like a simple boost to enforcement, the technology behind it tells a different story. It shows how cities are moving from passive watching to active, real‑time safety.

These AI‑powered systems from Verra Mobility do far more than spot red‑light runners. They read hard‑to‑see license plates, track repeat offenders, and pass each violation straight into city databases. The result is a connected network that not only detects problems, but also changes driver behavior as they happen.

Although these cameras sit on street corners, their core lessons reach much farther. Facility managers, fire‑protection teams, and public‑safety officers can benefit from the same ideas:

• Integration with older gear
• Live monitoring and quick analysis
• Automatic, proactive alerts
• A single, clear view of events
• Flexibility to grow over time

Let's use Government Technology's recent news article on the subject to unpack how this new approach to traffic enforcement reflects broader safety trends. By doing so, we'll address how the principles behind it can strengthen your own monitoring systems.

From Reaction to Prevention: A New Safety Mindset

Automated tickets are nothing new, but today's cameras are part of a smarter network. They use AI and edge computing to understand events right away, not hours later.

The change mirrors a larger shift in safety work: isolated alarms and slow responses are giving way to connected awareness and early action.

Example: After Fairfax County, VA, added stop‑arm cameras to school buses, compliance hit 98 percent after just one ticket. The simple fact that buses were watched changed how drivers acted.

Facilities can see similar gains. When staff know a system is connected and visible, small issues rarely turn into big ones.

AI Should Support, Not Replace, People

Verra Mobility treats AI as a force multiplier, not an authority. Cameras flag odd behavior, and software connects the dots, but trained people make the final call.

The same rule holds in building safety. No AI should pull a fire alarm or start an evacuation on its own. What it can do is give teams a faster, clearer picture.

Digitize systems, including the Prism LX head-end, aren't based on generative AI. But they apply some of the same intelligent principles:

• Programmable logic to escalate responses if multiple conditions occur
• Event correlation to prioritize critical alerts
• Visual indicators and zone mapping to support rapid situational assessment

This kind of "smart supervision" helps safety teams focus on the alarms that matter most.

Integration Is the Hard Part - And the Most Important

AI-powered enforcement in New York City didn't require tearing up streets and replacing every camera. It built on the existing infrastructure: integrating with DMV records, court systems, and cloud-based data platforms.

For facility managers, this is a key lesson.

Most buildings, campuses, and public spaces already have some form of fire alarm or supervisory equipment. But they often operate in isolation.

Example: One building has a panel from the 1990s. Another has a newer system but no way to relay alarms offsite. A third might rely on someone hearing the bell and calling 911 manually.

These fragmented systems create blind spots. Even worse, these systems fail to meet modern expectations for speed, accountability, and data access.

That's where the Prism LX platform comes in.

Digitize designed Prism LX to integrate with, not instead of, legacy panels. Whether you're monitoring a municipal complex with a mix of 10-year-old Notifier panels and newer Honeywell gear - or a military facility using proprietary formats - Prism LX serves as the central communication point.

It supports serial protocols, dry contact inputs, and relay outputs, so facilities don't need to rip and replace. Instead, they layer a new level of visibility on top of what's already in place.

Smart Monitoring Mirrors Smart Streets

Let's compare how the NYC camera expansion aligns with facility safety practices:

Traffic Enforcement	Facility Safety Monitoring
AI flags red-light runners	System logs fire alarms and supervisory alerts
Edge computing processes data on site	Head-end devices interpret and escalate alerts locally
Secure networks transmit info to central databases	Redundant communication (radio, IP, cellular) sends data to remote stations
Integrated with city systems	Integrated with security, HVAC, and emergency workflows
Human review verifies violations	Staff interpret zone-specific alarms and diagnostics
Data guides future improvements	Logged events inform maintenance and policy updates

Technology works only when it fits existing workflows and helps humans act faster.

Detection Alone Isn't Enough - You Need Response Capability

A camera that never issues tickets won't change behavior. A fire alarm no one hears won't stop a blaze.

Too many facilities still rely on local buzzers. If a sensor faults and no one is around, the warning can sit for days. A central head‑end like Prism LX closes that gap:

• Sends email or text alerts right away
• Time‑stamps and logs every event
• Triggers relays to shut equipment or flash strobes
• Reports to a UL‑listed monitoring station

This makes sure response starts before a fire breaks out - not after.

Predictive Safety: Preventing Failures with Data

AI traffic systems already spot patterns - like a rise in near‑misses - that guide signal timing and road design. Facility teams can do the same.

With a system like Prism LX, you can analyze:

• Which zones report the most trouble events
• How often supervisory signals repeat in a given timeframe
• Whether certain panels show degraded communication or fault patterns
• When and where manual interventions are occurring too frequently

Over time, these trends inform maintenance planning, capital improvement budgeting, and even staffing decisions.

By catching the why behind system faults or frequent alarms, you're not just reacting - you're planning.

Build Smarter, Safer Communities

While the Government Technology article focused on streets and highways, the bigger story is about community safety across all environments. Schools, town halls, government facilities, and military bases all need real-time monitoring of fire and safety systems.

That's where Digitize continues to make an impact. For over 45 years, the company has helped public-sector entities, military installations, and commercial operators modernize their fire alarm infrastructure (often without the need for a full system replacement).

Digitize products are field-proven in applications including:

• Municipal emergency services buildings
• Transit hubs and train depots
• Correctional facilities and court systems
• Military bases and government compounds
• School districts and higher education campuses

In all of these cases, monitoring isn't just about compliance. It's about lives.

What Digitize Delivers

When you build your monitoring infrastructure with Digitize, you get dependable gear to enhance your operations as well as a reliable partner to support you along the way.

Prism LX Central Head-End

• Monitors hundreds of zones from multiple buildings or panels
• Integrates with legacy systems via dry contacts or serial data
• Offers visual dashboards with priority-color coding for fast triage
• Supports dual redundancy for mission-critical sites

Mediation Devices

• Interface between older alarm panels and modern platforms
• Translate protocols or convert signals for compatibility

Alerting and Communication Tools

• Automatic alerts via IP, radio, or cellular
• Reporting to UL 864-listed central monitoring stations
• SMS/email notifications to safety teams

Compliance and Documentation

• NFPA-compliant supervision
• Event logs for audits, inspections, and forensic review
• Zone labeling and time stamping for accountability

Safer Cities Begin with Smarter Monitoring

New York City's AI upgrade proves a simple idea: smarter systems make people safer, not by replacing them but by backing them with quick, accurate information.

If your safety setup has not changed in ten years, now is the time.

You do not need a total overhaul - just gear that can talk to what you already have.

Ready to Modernize Your Safety Monitoring?

Whether you manage a city hall, power station, transportation hub, or military site, Digitize has the tools to bring your facility into the modern era of fire and safety monitoring.

Call us at (973) 663-1011
Email info@digitize-inc.com

Let's talk about how Digitize can help you build safer, smarter infrastructure - without starting from scratch.