After weeks of delays, D.C.'s real-time crime center is open, and leaders want residents and businesses to register their security cameras with police.
The center is a hub for technology like shot spotters, license-plate readers, traffic cameras and security cameras funneled through a command center at police headquarters.
By registering security cameras with police, residents and businesses are not giving police access but letting them know the location of the camera, so if a crime happens nearby, police can ask for the camera to be checked.
“I want to make it clear, by simply registering your camera, in no way are you giving MPD live access to your camera footage,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
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Businessman Mark Ein, whose company Kastle Systems provides security technology for businesses across the city, took that a step further. He has been organizing a network of private companies who have stepped up to share their surveillance cameras with police in real time.
“So, today we're announcing not just the integration of this entire network into the new real-time crime center, the push for more, but a commitment to another thousand cameras that we'll give to any business, any building who wants it installed so that they can be part of this network, and we will do that for you,” Ein said.
He wants every business big and small to consider linking their cameras with the crime center.
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“We really encourage people to do it,” he said. “It really is a force multiplier, and if you can imagine when an event happens, most likely there is a private camera there. It's one thing after the fact to go see what happens, but sometimes in real time, that information and that feed and seeing what happened can be immensely helpful, and so that's what we're trying to facilitate.”
D.C. residents and businesses also can get a rebate of up to $500 for installing outdoor security cameras.
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