WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It's nationally recognized and showing its success.
The Real-Time Crime Center in Winston-Salem was launched in 2022 and can track crime by the minute.
Lieutenant Ben Jones said it's changing the game for crime response.
"Since January 1st of this year, the Real Time Crime Center has actively assisted in 510 investigations for the department," said Jones. "Of those 510, we assisted on 23 violent felonies to help get those felons off the street, and we've located 29 stolen vehicles. Without the technology, we probably wouldn't have had half of those."
Jones said the center opened in 2022 with three staff members and 1,000 cameras from businesses across the city.
Now there are 10 staff members and 2200 cameras.
"We do have shotspotter, we have live 911, which allows officers to hear 911 calls as they're coming in and as they're being called in by the caller, which allows this center to also have that information and direct resources as necessary as that information is coming in.," said Jones. "We also have license plate readers, which have been good for us. It's helping us catch these violent felons quickly after a crime has been committed."
The shot spotter took officers right to the suspect vehicle, and they were able to find the gun and shell casings.
The license plate reader helped find a repeat domestic violence offender.
The cameras have helped police find six missing people this year.
It also helps expedite the time needed to solve a case.
"In cases that would take weeks or months, we're helping solve them in 15 or 20 minutes now," said Jones.
It's also helping keep officers safe.
"A more informed officer makes better decisions, so what we want to do is provide them with the most recent information and the most accurate information as possible before they ever even arrive," said Jones. "It's helpful because now they have all the information they could possibly have instead of going into something blind."
Jones doesn't want this momentum to slow down any time soon.
"The bigger we can be, the better we can help the citizens," he said.
The center is asking Winston-Salem residents to register their cameras.
What this will do is, if there is a crime committed in your neighborhood, staff will be able to see if there are registered cameras in the area where it happened.
They will then send you an email or text, and ask to look at your video cameras.