Amarillo Police Department's Real Time Crime Center

Project Abstract

Applicant Name: Amarillo Police Department (APD)

City and State: Amarillo, Texas

Total Funding Requested: $500,000.00

Summary of Goals/Activities: The proposed Amarillo Regional Crime Center (ARCC) will implement new technologies and crime analysis processes to support regional information sharing. Our goal is to implement a centralized information center to support the timely and actionable processing of multiple data sources for our Community Violence Intervention (CVI) strategies. The Center will enable the APD to synthesize information from digital sources (e.g., license plate readers, surveillance systems) with crime analysis to further inform efforts and resources. Upon an award, the APD will be able to procure the one-time technology costs to synthesize

Service Area: The ARCC will support the City and over 26 counties in the panhandle of Texas. As the central city for business, residence, and other services for the region, the ARCC will focus on violent crime reduction strategies to restore community safety and enhance our relationships with community groups. Specifically, the ARCC will focus on homicides, aggravated assaults, and robbery crimes. Over the last three years, the City’s annual homicide rate continues to exceed the national average (5.0 per 100k). Additionally, we have identified specific areas of the city that have 1.3 to 2.2 times more homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies, than other areas. These areas include high percentage of poverty (Benton, 29% poverty, Zip Codes 79103 and 79104; Reservoir, 26% poverty, Zip Code 79107; San Jacinto, 29% poverty, Zip Code 79106) and other risk factors that would benefit from CVI strategies. The ARCC would support technology systems, advanced data analysis, and information sharing among police and community resources to disrupt violent crime.

Products and Deliverables: Deliverables for this project will include grant required reporting (e.g., Action Plan), in addition to routine reporting on crime data (e.g., calls for service, reported crime) to identify patterns of crime and disorder within the city. The APD Crime Center, staffed by three analysts, will work with the research partner to support the collection, analysis, and monitoring of all data.

Project Benefits: While project is proposed to service these focus areas specifically, the APD and its stakeholders acknowledge this effort will advance the APD into modern policing practices and support the entire community’s public safety goals.

USAO/PSN: Amarillo is a priority location for the Northern District of Texas United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) and has actively participated in PSN since 2018.