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Harris County Sheriff's Office: 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 Harris County Sheriff's Office
Location Houston, TX
Technology Real-Time Crime Center
Vendor

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office revealed its Real-Time Crime Center and Incident Management Unit in 2016, which is maintained in the Houston TranStar building. The RTCC has access to over 30 databases and is a communications and monitoring center where crime data is collected, analyzed and dispatched to patrol officers during criminal activities. The RTCC access both public and private cameras, through a program called Secure Watch. RTCC staff also have access to face recognition technology.

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