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The a16z Show

The Plan to Make American Crime Obsolete

The a16z Show

a16z

Business, Software Eating The World, Culture, Innovation, Disruption, Entrepreneurship, Science, Technology

4.21.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

David Ulevitch speaks with Col. Jeffrey Glover and Rahul Sidhu about how AI, drones, and sensor networks are reshaping public safety and what it takes to bring new technology into law enforcement at scale. As departments face staffing shortages, burnout, and rising complexity, they examine how the right tools can make officers more effective, safer, and better supported. The conversation covers how drone-as-first-responder programs are changing the speed and safety of emergency response, from high-risk warrant service to Amber Alert pursuits. Glover describes how Arizona DPS is building a full technology ecosystem around its officers, including body-worn camera analytics for burnout detection, brain scan wellness checks, and international intelligence-sharing partnerships ahead of FIFA and the Olympics. Sidhu explains how Flock Safety's layered sensor network — license plate readers, gunshot detection, and drone dispatch — is turning reactive policing into proactive, data-driven response. They also discuss what founders get wrong when building for law enforcement, why spending time on the beat matters more than any product spec, and how the next decade will fundamentally change the skills required to be a police officer in America.

Transcript

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0:00.0

There's two things cops hate for things to change and for things to stay the same. Most of the cops in the field are going to have to change the way their skill set is shaped because it's going to be a little bit more investigative. It's going to be a little bit more nuanced. It's not going to look the same anymore. Are people just going to start to see drones flying around? Is that where we are? You hear a gunshot go off and the drone finds a shooter getting into a car driving off

0:22.6

and then pursuing the vehicle.

0:24.6

It's kind of almost hard to see that it isn't inevitable.

0:26.6

We can't do that with a helicopter today unless you just kept five helicopters up 24-7

0:30.6

and that's just not sustainable.

0:32.6

What advice would you give to founders who are less interested in optimizing ad clicks and more

0:38.1

interested in actually building something that helps first responders and save lives?

0:42.3

My advice?

0:43.3

American law enforcement is being asked to do more with less.

0:48.3

Departments are short-staffed, officers are burning out, and the complexity of the job keeps growing.

0:53.3

But the technology available to public

0:55.3

safety has never been more powerful. Drones that respond to 911 calls before a patrol car

1:00.9

can leave the station, license plate readers that flag an amber alert vehicle in real time,

1:06.3

body-worn camera analytics that detect burnout before an officer hits a breaking point. These aren't prototypes.

1:12.6

They're deployed today in departments across the country.

1:15.6

The harder question is how you actually get this technology into the field.

1:19.6

Law enforcement moves slowly by design.

1:22.6

Trust has built over years, not product cycles.

1:26.6

And the gap between what's technically possible and what departments will adopt is wide.

1:32.2

Colonel Jeffrey Glover and Rahul Sidhu speak with David Ulovich about rebuilding public safety for the 21st century.

1:41.2

I'm on the board of flock safety.

1:43.0

There's other companies like Skadiah that make drones.

...

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