Most criminals didn't know these existed. For that matter, neither did most citizens know that cameras were peering into their backyards and microphones doing machine learning on what people were saying. Sorry I don't have the links to the tech specs handy.
A system like this could be used as a massive phased array microphone to literally listen to anyone between 2 or more poles.
Crime has continued unabated in parts of Chicago that have remote sensing platforms for law enforcement's use.