D.C. police will launch a state-of-the-art real-time crime center at Metropolitan Police Department headquarters to monitor surveillance cameras around the clock.
Federal law enforcement and police from around the D.C. area will monitor the District’s vast system of surveillance cameras. D.C. will make agreements with multiple law enforcement agencies, who each will have a staff at the center to share information in real time, according to multiple people familiar with the planning but not authorized to speak publicly. Those agencies include:
- U.S. Secret Service
- U.S. Park Police
- U.S. Capitol Police
- Metro Transit Police
- Arlington Police Department
- Fairfax County Police Department
- Prince George’s County Police Department
On their website, MPD lists nearly 50 permanent cameras deployed across the city, with many downtown. Hundreds more are located in neighborhoods elsewhere. Sources familiar with the plan tell News4 the center will likely have access to many more cameras, including at Metro stations, at federal buildings and in Maryland and Virginia.
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Mayor Muriel Bowser is expected to announce the center on Thursday.
The plan comes amid a crime crisis in the District. There have been over 200 homicides in D.C. so far this year, and more than 70% of those cases remain unsolved. An FBI agent, a congressman and Amazon driver are some of the victims included in the over 900 carjackings in D.C.
Bowser was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday briefing members of Congress on crime and other issues. She declined to say much about the new crime center.
“We’ll be talking about yet another tool that we’ll deploy to fight crime,” she said.
News4 asked Bowser how the chief of police will be able to staff the center 24/7 and maintain enough officers on the streets when the department already is short-staffed.
“I think that we recognize that we have a need to do both, and that is what the MPD is called on to do and that is what they will do,” she said.
New York City and Philadelphia have launched similar centers. The idea is that once a crime is reported, officers can dial into that location through cameras right away and trace the suspects, even if they cross into Maryland or Virginia.
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Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
