JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JSO is hoping to upgrade its crime-fighting technology hub with more than $700,000 in state funding included in this year’s budget.
JSO Real-Time Crime Center launched in 2018, and JSO considers it a force multiplier.
Whether it’s tracking down a suspect’s car or helping officers find a missing vulnerable adult, the Real-Time Crime Center acts as the eyes and ears of the agency to aid officers on the ground.
“These are almost officers, if you will. They don’t have to respond to the scene. They can go right into investigative mode, a lot of times before the officers even arrive on scene,” said Sergeant Robert James Lisotta, who supervises the crime center.
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Lisotta explained the center’s team of roughly a dozen analysts has access to more than 3,000 cameras, which includes both public cameras and cameras from homes and businesses that have opted into JSO’s Connect Duval program.
Other technologies like ShotSpotter, dispatch, and body-worn cameras can also be monitored.
“Looking for things such as vehicles, people, linking people to other associates to help the officers and the detectives identify where to search,” said Lisotta.
The $730,000 included in the state budget would go towards upgrading as many as 200 cameras throughout the city.
JSO Chief of Investigations Alan Parker explained that while the operation may be high-tech in many ways, some of the cameras are more than 20 years old.
“Basically, to get them up to speed and with some better technology to help the real-time crime champion the effort of investigations and everything. So, it’s a big undertaking,” said Parker.
Parker says the ultimate goal is to get the center online 24/7.
He argued it’s worth the investment, and credits the technology with helping the city achieve last year’s historically low number of murders.
“It just accelerates what we get and how quick we get it and how accurate it is, and that leads to earlier arrests,” said Parker. ”That keeps from retaliatory shootings, which is a direct impact on the numbers. We’re able to get these people quicker before they go out and commit other crimes.”
The state funding still needs to survive the Governor’s veto pen.
Related: Local arts and culture projects recommended for veto in new TaxWatch report
He has until July 1st to comb through the $115 billion budget passed by the legislature to finalize the budget, or else risk a state government shutdown.
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