Irvine police unveil new technology at opening of ‘Real-Time Crime Center’

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) — Local leaders celebrated the opening of the Irvine Police Department’s new “Real-Time Crime Center” Thursday.

The agency now has access to more than 1,000 cameras in real time through RTCC, said Kyle Oldoerp, a police department spokesman.

That includes live video streaming of intersections, private partnerships in the city, the Irvine Unified School District and Flock — the technology used to read license plates, Oldoerp said.

At RTCC are two specialists: a crime analyst and a drone operator, all working in partnership with the dispatch center to reduce response times.

“As officers respond to calls, they provide license plate numbers and possible suspects,” Oldoerp said. “They look at criminal histories. They look at information that will link criminals to crimes so our officers can locate them quickly.”

In use since October 2022, RTCC has already helped resolve cases such as reconnecting an elderly person with their family, locating a suicidal teenager and, last July, at the Irvine Spectrum, an alert to the center regarding a vehicle associated with previous thefts. Oldoerp said that without 911 receiving a call, officers stopped the vehicle before it left the mall.

Investigators said the suspects, seen here, attempted to dispose of a stolen pair of high-end sunglasses,

“But because our officers were already in place, they were able to arrest these guys,” Oldoerp said.

MP Cottie Petrie-Norris, who helped secure $2 million in state funding for the centre, said it was important to deploy cutting-edge technology when it comes to tackling crime, while ensuring the protection of privacy laws.

“There are established laws as to how and where some of these technologies can be deployed,” Oldoerp said. “And I think it’s our duty as policymakers to ensure that as new technologies emerge, as new technologies are integrated into law enforcement and into law enforcement. order, we also look at the unintended consequences of these, to ensure that we have the best technology available and also the strongest privacy protections.

The RTCC is expected to expand in 2025, allowing for increased staffing and new technologies.