PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department has a new resource in north Phoenix: the real-time operations center at the Cactus Park precinct.
The RTOC uses technology to aid police work along the 27th Avenue corridor, an area that has seen "increasing violent crime," according to a Phoenix police news release. The goal of the RTOC is to enhance area safety and create a "better quality of life for residents."
Technology utilized at the RTOC includes gunshot detection, cameras and license plate readers, which will give real-time information to patrol officers in the area, the release states. The center will be monitored by police personnel who can then give real-time information to the officers working in the field.
“This is designed to immediately support patrol officers responding to calls,” Cactus Park Resource Lieutenant Scott Cain said in a news release. “With the limited staffing, this is supplementing officer response to locations.”
The idea to bring RTOC to the department began in 2022 when Phoenix City Council approved a pilot project to "address community safety through a multidepartment, collaborative manner using technology as well as community-based resources." The RTOC is the police component of the "Safe PHX Corridor" project.
An RTOC in the Desert Horizon Precinct is also being built with hopes for it to be in operation within the next year.
"After over two years of hard work and coordination from the Police Department, my office, and the Community, I'm proud to say the Real Time Operation Center has officially opened and already providing positive results," Councilperson Betty Guardado said in a news release. "From license plate readers to state-of-the-art cameras and gunshot detection this facility is already making the 27th Avenue Corridor safer."
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