CPD Expands Smart Policing Technology To Support Strategic Deployment And CTA Safety
Chicago, IL (STL.News) Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent David O. Brown today announced the launch of its newest Strategic Decision Support Center (SDSC) within the 1st (Central) District. The SDSC room brings together smart policing technology, a network of surveillance cameras and real-time crime data in a central location. The new technology allows officers to monitor activity and tracks crimes on the district level, but also focuses on safety within the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) system. “As CPD moves forward in this era of modern policing, we are continuing to use this innovative smart policing technology to track and reduce crime,” said Superintendent David O. Brown. “This SDSC room will support the work our officers are doing in the field by being an extra set of eyes.”
The SDSC room serves as a 24/7 nerve center for the 1st District and the Public Transportation Section. With accesses to cameras already installed on CTA property, officers working in the room monitor and track active and ongoing incidents as well as assist detectives in identifying and locating offenders that commit crimes on the public transit system. The technology also provides the 1st District with the ability to rewind, capture and disseminate critical intelligence from more than 32,000 cameras to officers working in the field. In some cases, officers are notified of incidents before 911 calls even come in, allowing them to respond quicker and more efficiently. The room also has access to license plate readers within the District, which assist in preventing vehicular hijackings and helping officers recover stolen vehicles. With a dedicated workspace for the Public Transportation Section, the SDSC room builds on CPD’s comprehensive public transit safety plan to increase safety and provide a more secure traveling experience for riders of the nation’s second-largest public transit system. The strategic pairing of CPD and CTA decreases the time needed to access surveillance from both public transit property and private security cameras within CTA’s surveillance network. With real-time access to the cameras, detectives also no longer have to spend hours retrieving surveillance video when a crime does occur.
“CTA has a productive and collaborative relationship with CPD, and this is the latest example of our two agencies working together to provide officers with the tools they need to safely and quickly address safety issues,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. The SDSC room also accesses existing CPD databases and historical crime data that will help determine where best to deploy resources. The room will include a civilian Criminal Intelligence Analyst who will utilize modern data science tools and techniques to inform command staff with the information they need to make critical decisions. CPD’s first SDSCs launched in 2017 in police districts that were experiencing the highest levels of violence, particularly on the city’s South and West sides. There are now SDSC rooms in 21 of the 22 police districts.
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