Cumming has become the latest Georgia city to approve a Real Time Crime Center for its police department. The city council signed off on the concept at a recent meeting.
Other towns in north Georgia that already use it include Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Roswell, and Sandy Springs. City officials hope to have it operational by year’s end.
A real-time crime center (RTCC) is a centrally-located unit that uses technology to provide law enforcement officers with real-time information to help identify patterns, stop crime and solve cases. Closed-circuit TV cameras, license plate scanners, body cameras, drones, gunshot detection, and computer-aided dispatch systems are among the technologies used by such systems.
The expected benefits include a quicker response time for officers and help in solving crimes in a more efficient manner and Real Time Crime Centers, proponents say, can be a cheaper alternative to hiring more officers because each of the cameras that are used acts as “a stationary officer.”
(Pictured: Los Angeles is one place that uses a Real Time Crime Center)