Get Eyes on the Scene Instantly With Real-Time Watch Center
June 02, 2023 by Lexi Belvis
If you’re looking for the future of policing, look no further than Beverly Hills, California.
When an increase in crime and an uptick in smash-and-grab robberies at high-end stores started plaguing the city, the Beverly Hills Police Department knew they had to act fast. These incidents can be over in the blink of an eye, and it’s not always possible for an officer to get eyes on the suspect. Enter: the Real-Time Watch Center.
Using a combination of technologies — including drones, cameras placed throughout the city, and Tyler Technologies' Enterprise CAD solution — the Beverly Hills Police Department’s Real-Time Watch Center (RTWC) can provide visibility into a situation within moments of an incoming call for service.
“The RTWC allows us to put eyes on a situation well before an officer arrives on scene,” Lt. Todd Withers with the Beverly Hills Police Department shared. “Our Virtual Patrol Officers and Drone Pilots can see incoming calls for service and quickly utilize cameras and drones throughout the city to gather more information.”
While dispatchers use Enterprise CAD to send units to the scene, the solution also plays a role in the RTWC. During an incoming call for service, RTWC staff reference real-time mapping in Enterprise CAD to check unit location and status. If staff need eyes on the situation sooner than later, cameras and drones come into play. Among more than 2,000 drone flights conducted by the agency in 2022, the drone arrived on scene before an officer more than a quarter of the time.
“Not only does this help with officer safety, since we can pass information to officers who are still driving to the location, but it’s also resulted in numerous suspects being identified and apprehended before they were able to flee a location undetected,” Lt. Withers said.
The program has driven real results. In addition to improving officer safety and suspect apprehension, Beverly Hills experienced a sharp 35% decrease in crime in the months following the RTWC’s launch. Longer term, the city's crime rate is down nearly 17%.
"This type of initiative is only possible when the disparate technologies work together," Lt. Withers said. "Enterprise CAD is our main dispatch CAD system; it gives our RTWC staff real-time situational awareness; and, it integrates with some of our other RTWC technologies to give us a better glimpse of what is going on in the city and which areas may require more law enforcement attention. It plays an integral role."
At the end of the day, we’re identifying those technologies and strategies that are going to make our community safer, and we’re putting them into practice.
Lt. Todd Withers
Beverly Hills Police Department
So, for an agency on the cutting edge of tech-forward policing, what’s next? Beverly Hills is developing a process to use the agency’s data to predict and further prevent crime.
“The implementation of Tyler’s Data & Insights solution will enhance our ability to identify crime trends so we can hone our intelligence-led policing,” Lt. Withers shared. “At the end of the day, we’re identifying those technologies and strategies that are going to make our community safer, and we’re putting them into practice.”
Interested in how this technology can improve your agency’s emergency response? Learn more about Enterprise CAD and the full suite of Enterprise Public Safety solutions.