Capital Area Real Time Crime Center Operational and Research Partnership.

Proposal Abstract

FY21 BJA Smart Policing Initiative

In response to persistent violence and firearm-related crime throughout Leon County, FL, three local law enforcement agencies—Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee Police Department, and Florida State University Police Department—are working together to create the Capital Region Real Time Crime Center (CRRTCC), a county-wide, multi-agency RTCC. A primary goal of the CRRTCC is to improve communication and coordination among law enforcement agencies in Leon County, allowing them to work together on active investigations—live and in real time—to solve many crimes within minutes or hours, rather than days or weeks.

Funds from this grant will serve four purposes, all of which will contribute to the development, implementation, and evaluation of the multi-agency CRRTCC. The first purpose is to purchase and deploy automated license plate reader (ALPR) and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras—the most commonly used technologies in an RTCC. The second purpose is to support the integration and standardization of the various databases and information sources used by each agency into a single accessible interface that will serve as the foundation of the CRRTCC intelligence infrastructure. The third purpose will be to increase trust and rapport between the partnering agencies and the communities they serve by conducting a survey of Leon County residents to gauge perceptions about the RTCC and its component technologies, and to identify any concerns and possible misconceptions that residents may have about the RTCC. Information from the survey and about the RTCC in general will be disseminated on a newly-created online RTCC information portal. The fourth purpose will be to evaluate the effectiveness of the CRRTCC at achieving the stated goals, and to assess the value of enhanced information sharing and crime analysis. This evaluation will be accomplished through a partnership between the law enforcement agencies and researchers in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. It will include a process and impact evaluation using numerous performance indicators, as well as interviews with agency stakeholders to assess perceptions of the RTCC and identify factors that facilitate or impede uptake and buy-in.

The reports generated from each of the evaluation components will assist the agencies in decision-making about the use of technology and crime intelligence in law enforcement. Reports from this project will also provide valuable information to the broader law enforcement community to assist agencies in their own efforts to enhance information sharing and to successfully implement an RTCC.