The following is the text of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, August 12, 2012.

“Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“Cutting-edge innovation; unflinching devotion to duty in the face of danger: They’re both hallmarks of the world’s greatest police department, the NYPD. They’re both key to how our Finest have made New York the safest big city in the nation, driving crime down 32 percent since 2001 while also creating the best counter-terrorism operation of any American police force. And they were both fully on display last week.

“On Wednesday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and I unveiled the ‘Domain Awareness System.’ Designed by police officers, for police officers, it’s state-of-the-art technology that builds on years of NYPD success in ensuring the security of some of New York’s highest-profile areas: The Financial District and Midtown Manhattan. This new system uses the City’s secure, high-speed wireless broadband network as well as software developed in cooperation with Microsoft Services. And it now enables officers to instantly assemble, analyze, and respond to information streaming in from a wide range of sophisticated sources, including closed-circuit camera networks and mobile license plate readers and radiation detectors, as well as law enforcement databases.

“Investigators can now, for example, view live video feeds from a crime scene while simultaneously integrating that with other important information, including records of calls made to 911 and reports on related crimes in the area. They can map such police reports, in both space and time, to reveal an area’s crime patterns. Or if a suspicious package turns up somewhere, the NYPD can immediately review past video feeds to help identify who left it there. Such tools will prove invaluable to law enforcement in other cities, too. And when those police departments buy the Microsoft software, New York City will receive 30 percent of the revenues – funds that we’ll reinvest in the innovative crime prevention and counter-terrorism programs that keep us safe.

“Our safety also rests on the courage of the men and women of the NYPD. We saw that once again last Wednesday night, when Sergeant Craig Bier was shot in both legs after pursuing a suspect down a narrow alley in Queens. Thankfully, Sergeant Bier, a highly decorated 15-year veteran of the NYPD, is expected to recover from his wounds. And while Sergeant Bier was the 10th member of the NYPD shot on duty so far this year, we’re fortunate that none of those shootings has been fatal. Nevertheless, those 10 shootings – like the recent tragic episodes of mass bloodshed in Wisconsin and Colorado, and like the projection that 48,000 Americans will die from gun violence over the next four years – underscore the urgency that our national leaders need to show in keeping guns out of dangerous hands.

“Today, many of us will be enjoying some of the simple pleasures that a summer Sunday in New York has to offer:  A walk in a park, a trip to the beach, or a stroll down our streets. We can do all that in safety because of the police officers who protect us, and who deserve our thanks and support for working to make New York safer still.

“This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening.”