Legal Research

Memphis Starts Real Time Crime Center

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source:Crime and Justice News, April 16, 2008.

"The Memphis Police Department's latest crime- fighting tool looks like a wide-screen movie, says the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The images that move along the wall-to-wall screens are from cameras spread throughout the city to catch criminals and thwart terrorists. The 42 monitors are part of a Real Time Crime Center being unveiled today. The $3.6 million system can monitor bridges, interstates, and be a bird's eye in the middle of a high-crime neighborhood."

"Some of the cameras can register gunfire and swing around to where the sound came from. If there are frequent car break-ins in a parking lot, the cameras can be installed on a pole or a mobile unit could be placed on the lot. Analysts will monitor activity from 20 work stations. They can collect data that can be sent directly to a patrol car that's cruising a neighborhood. The center incorporates a CyberWatch program that can access a suspect's rap sheet, outstanding warrants, mug shot, and hangouts. All can be sent instantly to patrol officers through a patrol car's computer or a cell phone text message."

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).