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Documenting Police Tech in Our Communities
with Open Source Research

Include the following technologies

Houston 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 Houston Police Department
Location Houston, TX
Technology Real-Time Crime Center
Vendor

The Houston Police Department merged two units—command center and the crime analysis division—into a singular, 24-hour crime center in 2008. The RTCC’s goal is “to disseminate crime information and investigative-support data to officers and investigators in the field in ‘real-time’ as an incident occurs.” The RTCC employs 12 civilian criminal intelligence analysts and 22 officers.

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