Broward County Real Time Crime Center Expansion

In Broward County the intricate network of highways, including major routes such as Interstate 95 (I-95) play a significant role in the dynamics of criminal activities. The highway’s extensive reach offers multiple directions for escape, making it challenging for law enforcement to predict the route. To further complicate the pursuit, criminals use multiple ingress/egress points along the highway. Once on these highways, violent crimes can continue to occur. Research shows a positive correlation between proximity to highway access points and the frequency of violent crimes. The Broward Sheriff’s Office reports high numbers of calls for service along I-95, a major north/south highway within the County – 1,009 calls in 2023 and 375 calls during the first quarter of 2024.

For law enforcement, responding to violent crimes and apprehending the perpetrators requires swift coordination and advanced tactics. Real time communication is critical to deploy responders to strategic points throughout the County, including along the highway. Modern law enforcement agencies rely on technologies such as specialized software to identify vehicles by make, model, color, and license plates, traffic cameras, and GPS tracking to monitor the highways. These tools help identify and track suspect vehicles in real time.

BSO wishes to purchase a specialized software that identifies vehicles by make, model, color, and license plates. The software will be an investigative tool used by BSO employees and law enforcement officers from surrounding jurisdictions and nationwide. This project will be used to identify and track dangerous individuals. Cameras featuring the specialized software that identifies vehicles by make, model, color, and license plates which are placed along major corridors will be used to monitor threats thereby increasing our ability to detect and prevent threats of mass violence from a greater distance. In addition to the monitoring of threats of mass violence and the monitoring of subjects threatening mass violence, this project will be used to combat and solve other violent crimes.
The projects intended outcomes include (but are not limited to) the implementation of technology in high-risk ingress and egress points of cities and I-95 and near critical infrastructure; to integrate specialized software that identifies vehicles by make, model, color, and license plates with local and national databases of known suspects, stolen vehicles, and persons of interest; use the specialized software data to establish patterns and predict potential criminal activities; and Utilize cloud-based technologies to enable real-time access to specialized software data.