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FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Recon Power Bikes started on the principle that to create the right e-bike for law enforcement, having the proper background is paramount. With several core team members having military and police backgrounds, Recon forged an identity in the law enforcement market by supplying “military tough” e-bikes to agencies in 35 states. Recon has been a supplier of e-bikes to municipal police departments, the federal government, military, conservation, and other agencies.

“We believe our Recon team members, with their diverse military and law enforcement experience, bring a superior skill set to the organization,” said owner and founder Jeff Fuze. “They work extremely well in a team environment. Additionally, their strong sense of duty and responsibility, coupled with a disciplined work ethic, brings a winning dynamic to our organization.”

For example, Recon’s lead mechanic is an Air Force reservist, and its law enforcement trainer a Marine Corp. veteran and a retired bike patrol officer. Backgrounds such as these give Recon insight into what law enforcement looks for in assembling a bike patrol fleet and training it, Fuze said. “It is a privilege and honor to work with the professionals in law enforcement and the military,” Fuze said.

While 70% of Recon’s business is to law enforcement, the company does offer three all-terrain e-bikes for civilians — priced from $1,899-$3,895 — for various uses, including hunting and fishing, RV and camping, and commuting. “The consumer side is growing as individuals seek out this type of bike,” Fuze said. “Law enforcement will always be our priority, but much of what we have done in that sec- tor carries over into the consumer market. We have seen a steep rise in our consumer bikes over the last 18 months.”

Marketing its bikes as military tough is built around a lifetime frame warranty pledge. The 6061 alloy frame features beefy downtube, chainstays and seatstays. Fuze said an FBI bike patrol agent who’s part of Washington’s J. Edgar Hoover Building headquarters patrol is 6-foot-7 and weighs 300-plus pounds. He had durability issues until the FBI began using Recon Power Bikes.

The brand features three law enforcement models. The signature model the Interceptor has a Bafang 1,000-watt˛ pedal-assist mid-drive motor, 48-volt lithium-ion battery, Shimano drivetrain, hydraulic brakes, and 4-inch wide 26-inch tires. It has a speed capacity of 25-30 mph, depending on rider weight, with a range of 30-50 miles on a charge. MSRP range for the police models is $2,299-$3,495.

Perhaps most interesting, the Interceptor comes with the Ekin Bike Patrol feature, which performs license plate recognition and has live video streaming and facial recognition capabilities. The live-streaming feature is helpful for law enforcement because of bike accessibility. If there is unrest, an officer can reach the area quickly and be able to live-stream to command to make strategic decisions, Fuze said. License plate recognition is helpful for patrolling for parking fines, monitoring amber alerts and stolen vehicles. Fuze said having facial recognition allows for photos of suspects of interest to be quickly downloaded.

In addition to offering patrol training, Fuze said Recon offers a leasing program to municipalities. Recon sells direct-to-consumer on its website and also has a dealer network consisting of law-enforcement specific, consumer, and some that handle both. “Our dealer network is key to our sustained growth in our primary markets,” said Fuze, who added the goal is to double its 30 U.S. dealers this year. The bikes are sourced and manufactured primarily from China, Japan, and Korea and assembled in the U.S.

“Finally, I would say our customer service is outstanding,” Fuze said. “When you call Recon, someone answers the phone and addresses the clients’ needs individually. This basic customer service seems to be a lost art in this industry.”

By Dean Yobbi 

Ekin X has announced its portable smart traffic system AI camera for data collection to enhance traffic and parking management for an efficient smart city. The AI camera uses Ekin X Spotter for a smart AI-based traffic enforcement system for performing ALPR (Automatic License Plate Recognition), speed, and violation detection of the automobiles in its range.The ALPR and vehicle speed and violation detection functionalities allow easy monitoring of the overall traffic for the assigned department. The AI camera features a 4K motor-zoom image sensor and video-based recognition technology for its smart applications. The compact design of the AI camera makes it flexible for easy integration into any vehicle type. It also allows the dynamic deployment of AI cameras all over the smart city.

Deployed AI Camera

Talking more about the software platform Ekin X Spotter. It allows ALPR for up to three lanes of traffic, powered by Ekin’s proprietary artificial intelligence ETS software. The ML models for number recognitions undergo rigorous training for achieving model accuracy of up to 99%. The traffic analysis functionality includes speed, red light violation, tailgating, stopped vehicle, and pedestrian detection on roads and highways.

“Akif Ekin (Founder and Chairman of Ekin) says “The Ekin X Spotter is designed to ensure continuous traffic management and enhanced safety for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians while public safety officers are on the move. The flexible design helps agencies streamline data collection and when used as part of Ekin’s flexible smart city solutions. This makes it easier for officials to understand their cities and create impactful policies that promote safety for all residents.”

Smart City Applications

Smart cities tend to have more traffic than normal cities as the residents have more personal vehicles. So, the AI camera features high-resolution video sensors to turn for solving the problem by performing “analysis of traffic patterns and behaviors, vehicle classification, rush-hour congestion points, peak traffic hours, average time spent in traffic, and daily traffic flow management”. The analysis includes efficient traffic management with systematic monitoring to avoid congestions.The Ekin X Spotter comes with a modular design which gives the option of setting the policies. These policies are according to the current regulations for proper safety for efficient maintenance. The company has a Red Eagle operating system that is a dynamic software solution with a simple user interface.

Ekin Spotter Awarded Smart City Product Honors for Adaptive Design Used to Build Sustainable Cities Worldwide

NEW YORK, NY (Jan. 13, 2021) – Ekin, a global leader in next generation smart city technology solutions announced its Ekin Spotter has been selected by the Consumer Technology Association as a CES 2021 Innovation Award Product in the Smart Cities category. The annual CES Innovation Awards honor outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Ekin’s smart city solutions powered by artificial intelligence give public sector, businesses and law enforcement agencies dynamic data collection tools to support traffic management, environmental analyses and surveillance. From the analysis of traffic patterns to help prevent auto accidents and reduce carbon emissions, to parking management and red light enforcement, the Ekin Spotter is the first and only smart city device that combines multiple functions into one product. The Ekin Spotter was awarded Golden A’ Design Award honors in 2018.

“The Ekin Spotter”s adaptive design uses high-resolution video and environmental sensors powered by artificial intelligence to turn everyday cities into smart cities,” said Akif Ekin, founder and chairman of Ekin. “We are honored to be selected by the prestigious CES Innovation Awards as a leader in smart city solutions, as we work together to improve lives with high tech, low-cost solutions.”

The CES Innovation Awards is an annual program recognizing honorees in a multitude of consumer technology product categories. CES 2021 brings together businesses, thought leaders, policymakers, media and the broader tech community to launch products, build brands and form partnerships.

As an honoree in the smart cities category, the Ekin Spotter is highlighted for its sleek design and adaptability, giving users key smart city capabilities, including automatic license plate recognition, traffic violation detection, surveillance, environmental analysis, speaker and Wi-Fi hotspot modules within a single structure, reducing the need for mass devices. Using Ekin’s proprietary Red Eagle operating system, users centrally manage secure data collection, storage and analysis.

About Ekin

Founded in 1998, Ekin is the leading provider of next generation safe and smart city solutions worldwide. Today, Ekin has global offices in the U.S., Europe, Asia and MENA regions in addition to Ekin Holding AG based in Switzerland. Ekin’s smart city solutions focus on three main areas: smart traffic management, including ALPR, red light enforcement, speed detection, intersection management and parking management; public safety management, including missing person and person of interest detection, license plate recognition, video surveillance and vehicle and people counting; and smart environment management, including environmental analysis, air quality index, lighting and Wi-Fi. With a focus on mobile, versatile smart city technology, Ekin’s smart city solutions are implemented by cities, airports, shopping centers, campuses and arenas around the world. The company has received a number of prestigious awards for their work, including German Design, CES Innovation Award, A Design and Golden Bridge, German Innovation and the Red Dot. To learn more about Ekin, visit www.ekin.com.

About CES

CES® is the most influential tech event in the world — the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators. This is where the world’s biggest brands do business and meet new partners, and the sharpest innovators hit the stage. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, CES features every aspect of the tech sector. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, CES features every aspect of the tech sector.

X Spotter mobile and portable enforcement system provides ANPR for up to three lanes

Ekin has launched a mobile and portable smart traffic enforcement system in the US which it says offers data collection capabilities to improve traffic and parking management.

“The Ekin X Spotter is designed to ensure continuous traffic management and enhanced safety for drivers, passengers and pedestrians while public safety officers are on the move,” explains founder Akif Ekin.

“The flexible design helps agencies streamline data collection and when used as part of Ekin’s flexible smart city solutions, makes it easier for officials to understand their cities and create impactful policies that promote safety and wellbeing for all residents.”

The product uses artificial intelligence (AI) and high-resolution video sensors to turn cities into smart cities, with the analysis of traffic patterns and behaviours, vehicle classification and peak traffic hours, the firm says.

The tool identifies congestion points and problem spots to help cities improve traffic flow and prevent accidents.

The Ekin X Spotter provides automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and vehicle speed and violation detection capabilities to officers using a 4K motor-zoom image sensor and video-based recognition technology.

According to Ekin, the system performs ANPR on up to three lanes of traffic, powered by the company’s AI engineering tool software.

The product’s traffic analysis features include speed, red light violation, tailgating, stopped vehicle and pedestrian detection on roads and highways.

Ekin insists city officials can customise the device to collect and analyse the data needed to make informed policy changes, while municipalities can use its Red Eagle software solution to manage the data collected by its products citywide.