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Austin Police Department Introduces the Real Time Crime Center

Police in the new Real Time Crime Center will be able to connect officers on the street with databases at police headquarters.
Photo by Kelsey Sheridan for KUT News
Police in the new Real Time Crime Center will be able to connect officers on the street with databases at police headquarters.

The Austin Police Department is implementing a new strategy to fight crime.

The Real Time Crime Center, a room filled with computers and TV screens at the police headquarters, will allow officers to monitor police radio traffic 24 hours a day and provide more information on handling a scene before officers arrive.

APD Commander Troy Gay, who's in charge of the new center, told KUT News that it was a "force multiplier"

"They’re almost like an extension of patrol," he said. "They’re watching what patrol is doing and then providing additional information at that time."

Surveillance cameras will be the major focal point at the center. APD has installed four cameras near Rundberg Lane west of I-35. The cameras have been used on 600 reports and added additional information to 400 of them.

Kelsey Johnson is a summer intern with KUT news. She is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications with an emphasis in electronic media.
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