Skip navigation
Documenting Police Tech in Our Communities
with Open Source Research

Include the following technologies

Detroit Police Department: Real-Time Crime Center

President Obama speaks to a police officer in a room full of computer monitors.
President Obama visits the Camden, New Jersey Real-Time Crime center in 2015.
Credit: Obama White House Archives
Agency Detroit Police Department
Location Detroit, MI
Technology Real-Time Crime Center
Vendor

The Detroit Police Department opened its real-time crime center in 2016 . The RTCC accesses more than 500 cameras from at least 229 businesses through a program called "Project Green Light", where businesses agreed to pay for and install security cameras that feed directly into the RTCC. The Detroit Police Department also runs the Neighborhood Real-Time Intelligence Program—a $9 million initiative that uses local and federal traffic modernization funds to put high-definition cameras at various intersections in the neighborhoods. The DPD's RTCC also employs face recognition technology from DataWorks Plus and automated license plate readers.

More about this technology

Real-Time Crime Centers are hubs where police ingest and analyze surveillance, intelligence, and data from a number of sources in real-time. RTCCs are often equipped with walls of monitors with live feeds from camera networks. Analysts are often able to access a wide variety of surveillance technologies, including automated license plate readers, gunshot detection, predictive policing, and face recognition. Unlike fusion centers, RTCCs tend to be focused on local level activities and a broader range of criminal investigations.

President Obama speaks to a police officer in a room full of computer monitors.
President Obama visits the Camden, New Jersey Real-Time Crime center in 2015.
Credit: Obama White House Archives