Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Real-time crime centers (RTCCs) have rapidly proliferated among law enforcement agencies in the United States, becoming a central feature in modern policing. However, research on RTCCs remains limited, particularly regarding the recent surge in their development. Using data from a nationally representative survey of law enforcement agencies, this study examines the development of RTCCs and their operational characteristics. Results reveal that RTCCs continue to expand rapidly, with notable variation in their structure and operations associated with agency size and the time since RTCC initiation. Our findings provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the current RTCC landscape.

Keywords

real-time crime centers policing technologies police practice hiring practices

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arietti

(2024) Do real-time crime centers improve case clearance? An examination of Chicago’s strategic decision support centers. Journal of Criminal Justice 90: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2023.102145

Bureau of Justice Assistance (2024) FY24 Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative. Bureau of Justice Assistance. https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/o-bja-2024-172175

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2009) Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/law-enforcement-management-and-administrative-statistics-lemas

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2020) Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/law-enforcement-management-and-administrative-statistics-lemas

Byrne

Marx

(2011) Technological innovations in crime prevention and policing: a review of the research on implementation and impact. Cahiers Politiestudies Jaargang 3(20): 17–40.

Circo

McGarrell

(2021) Estimating the impact of an integrated CCTV program on crime. Journal of Experimental Criminology 17: 129–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-019-09404-y

Circo

McGarrell

Werdlow Rogers

, et al. (2023) Assessing causal effects under treatment heterogeneity: an evaluation of a CCTV program in Detroit. Journal of Experimental Criminology 19: 1033–1051. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09519-9

Coppola

(2016) Real-time crime center serves as force multiplier. In: Techbeat. National Institute of Justice. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from. https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/techbeat-may-2016

Cunningham

(2024) Real time crime centers: a cost-effective way to deter and solve crime. Axis communications. https://newsroom.axis.com/en-us/blog/real-time-crime-centers

10.

Deflem

Chicoine

(2014) History of technology in policing. In: Bruinsma

Weisburd

(eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology & Criminal Justice. Springer, pp. 2269–2277. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_253

11.

Dillman

(2017) The promise and challenge of pushing respondents to the web in mixed-mode surveys. Survey Methodology 43(1): 3–30.

12.

Doucette

Green

Dineen

, et al. (2021) Impact of ShotSpotter technology on firearm homicides and arrests among large metropolitan counties: a longitudinal analysis, 1999-2016. Journal of Urban Health 98: 609–621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00515-4

13.

D’Amico

(2006) Stopping crime in real time. Police Chief 73(9): 20–25.

14.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (2024) Atlas of surveillance. Atlas of surveillance. https://atlasofsurveillance.org/

15.

Escamilla

Reichert

(2019) An Overview of Police Technology: Adoption and Efficacy. Chicago, IL: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10531.20004

16.

Flock Safety (2022) Three reasons an RTCC is more affordable than you think. Flock Safety. https://www.flocksafety.com/articles/lpr-camera-rtcc-affordable#:∼:text=Birmingham's%20RTCC%20exemplifies%20the%20power,as%20much%20as%20%2411%20million

17.

Fox

(2014) How real-time crime center technologies are force multipliers. Police1, Retrieved November 21, 2024, from. https://www.police1.com/police-products/software/data-information-sharing-software/articles/how-real-time-crime-center-technologies-are-force-multipliers-YFZo1KAXSQrHC6q4/

18.

Freilich

Chermak

Arietti

, et al. (2024) Terrorism, political extremism, and crime and criminal justice. Annual Review of Criminology 7: 187–209. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-022422-121713

19.

Groff

McEwen

(2008) Identifying and measuring the effects of information technologies on law enforcement agencies: the making officer redeployment effective program. In: Office of Community Oriented Policing Programs.

20.

Guerette

Przeszlowski

(2023) Does the rapid deployment of information to police improve crime solvability? A quasi-experimental impact evaluation of real-time crime center (RTCC) technologies on violent crime incident outcomes. Justice Quarterly 40(7): 950–974. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2023.2264362

21.

Heinecke

(2006) Creating the super detective. Law enforcement technology 33(8): 50–62.

22.

Helms

Gibbons

(2022) Assessment of data-driven Deployment by the Memphis Police Department. The University of Memphis Public Safety Institute.

23.

Hendrix

Taniguchi

Strom

, et al. (2019) Strategic policing philosophy and the acquisition of technology: findings from a nationally representative survey of law enforcement. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy 29(6): 727–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2017.1322966

24.

Hollywood

McKay

Woods

, et al. (2019) Real-Time Crime Centers in Chicago: Evaluation of the Chicago Police Department’s Strategic Decision Support Centers. RAND Corporation.

25.

Hummer

Byrne

(2017) Technology, innovation, and twenty-first-century policing. In: McGuire

Holt

(eds) The Routledge Handbook of Technology, Crime and Justice. Routledge, pp. 375–389. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315743981

26.

Koper

Lum

(2019) The impacts of large-scale license plate reader deployment on criminal investigations. Police Quarterly 22(3): 305–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611119828039

27.

Koper

Taylor

Kubu

(2009) Law Enforcement Technology Needs Assessment: Future Technologies to Address the Operational Needs of Law Enforcement. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum and the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

28.

Koper

Lum

Willis

(2014) Optimizing the use of technology in policing: results and implications from a multi-site study of the social, organizational, and behavioral aspects of implementing police technologies. Policing 8(2): 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pau015

29.

Laufs

Borrion

(2022) Technological innovation in policing and crime prevention: practitioner perspectives from London. International Journal of Police Science and Management 24(2): 190–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557211064053

30.

Lum

(2010) Technology and mythology of progress in American law enforcement. Science Progress, Retrieved from. https://www.scienceprogress.org/2010/02/police-technology/ 11 February 2010.

31.

Lum

Merola

Willis

, et al. (2010) License plate recognition technology (LPR): Impact evaluation and community assessment [Final report]. Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. George Mason University. https://cebcp.org/wp-content/evidence-based-policing/LPR_FINAL.pdf

32.

Lum

Koper

Willis

(2017) Understanding the limits of technology’s impact on police effectiveness. Police Quarterly 20(2): 135–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611116667279

33.

Maass

(2020) EFF Publishes New Research on Real-Time Crime Centers in the U.S. Electronic Frontier Foundation.

34.

Maskaly

Donner

Jennings

, et al. (2017) The effects of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police and citizen outcomes: a state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 40(4): 672–688. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm-03-2017-0032

35.

Nguyen

(2010) Assessment of Impact Factors on Crimes Through the Use of real-time Crime Analysis (3448052). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. [Doctoral dissertation, Sam Houston State University].

36.

Nhan

(2024) The emergence of police real-time crime centers. In: Pica

Ross

Pozzulo

(eds) The Impact of Technology on the Criminal Justice System. Routledge, pp. 41–55. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003323112

37.

NRTCCA (2024) National real time crime center association. NRTCCA. https://nrtcca.org/

38.

NYC Global Partners (2010) Best Practice: Real-Time Crime Center: Centralized Data System. New York City: Global Partners. https://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/gprb/downloads/pdf/NYC_SafetyandSecurity_RTCC.pdf

39.

Oliver

Kugler

(2022) Surveying surveillance: a national study of police department surveillance technologies. Arizona State Law Journal 54(1): 103–144.

40.

Piza

Welsh

Farrington

, et al. (2019) CCTV surveillance for crime prevention: a 40-year systematic review with meta-analysis. Criminology & Public Policy 18: 135–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12419

41.

Piza

Hatten

Carter

, et al. (2023) Gunshot detection technology time savings and spatial precision: an exploratory analysis in Kansas City. Policing: Journal of Policy Practice 17: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paac097

42.

Piza

Hatten

Mohler

, et al. (2024) Gunshot detection technology effect on gun violence in Kansas City, Missouri: a microsynthetic control evaluation. Criminology & Public Policy 23(4): 863–892. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12648

43.

Przeszlowski

Guerette

Lee-Silcox

, et al. (2023) The centralization and rapid deployment of police agency information technologies: an appraisal of real-time crime centers in the U.S. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 96(4): 553–572. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258x221107587

44.

Shjarback

Sarkos

(2025) An evaluation of a major expansion in automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology. Justice Evaluation Journal 8(2): 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/24751979.2025.2473363

45.

Stonelake

(2023) Police use of AI: a force for good or a public threat? Eviden. https://eviden.com/insights/blogs/police-use-of-ai-a-force-for-good-or-a-public-threat/

46.

Strom

(2017) Research on the Impact of Technology on Policing Strategy in the 21^st Century, Final Report. U.S. Department of Justice.

47.

U.S. Department of Justice (2009) Navigating Your Agency’s Path to intelligence-led Policing. Bureau of Justice Assistance. https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/navigating_your_agency_s_path_to_intelligence-led_policing.pdf

48.

Wessler

(2024) Police say a simple warning will prevent face recognition wrongful arrests. That’s just not true. American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/police-say-a-simple-warning-will-prevent-face-recognition-wrongful-arrests-thats-just-not-true

49.

Wilson

(2012) Articulating the dynamic police staffing challenge: an examination of supply and demand. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 35(2): 327–355. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639511211230084

50.

Wilson

Grammich

Cherry

, et al. (2023) Police retention: a systematic review of the research. Policing: Journal of Policy Practice 17: 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paac117

51.

Zetter

(2020) How cops can secretly track your phone. Inter. https://theintercept.com/2020/07/31/protests-surveillance-stingrays-dirtboxes-phone-tracking/

Evolving technologies in law enforcement: Documenting the continued growth of real-time crime centers

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References