Irvine police unveil new technology as 'Real-Time Crime Center' opens

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- Local leaders on Thursday celebrated the opening of the Irvine Police Department's new "Real-Time Crime Center."

The agency now has access to more than 1,000 cameras in real time thanks to the RTCC, said Kyle Oldoerp, a spokesman for the Police Department.

That includes live video feed from intersections, private partnerships in the city, the Irvine Unified School District and Flock -- the technology used to read license plates, Oldoerp said.

On duty at the RTCC are two specialists -- a crime analyst and a drone operator, all working in partnership with the dispatch center to decrease response times.

"As officers are responding to calls, they're providing license plate numbers, possible suspects," Oldoerp said. "They're looking at criminal histories. They're looking at information that will tie criminals to crimes so that our officers can quickly locate them."

In use since October 2022, the RTCC has already helped solve cases such as reconnecting an elderly person with their family, locating a suicidal teenager and this past July at the Irvine Spectrum--an alert to the center about a vehicle associated with previous thefts. Oldoerp said, without 911 getting a call, officers stopped the vehicle before it left the shopping center.

Investigators said the suspects, seen here, tried to ditch a stolen pair of high-end sunglasses,

"But because our officers were already set up, they were able to arrest those guys," Oldoerp said.

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, who helped secure $2 million in state funding for the center, said it's important to deploy leading-edge technology when it comes to fighting crime, while ensuring the protection of privacy laws.

"There are established laws in terms of how and where some of these technologies can be deployed," Oldoerp said. "And I think it's our job as policy makers to ensure that as new technologies emerge, as new technologies get integrated into law enforcement and into policing, that we're also examining the unintended consequences of those, to ensure that we've got the best available technology and also the strongest privacy protections."

The RTCC is scheduled for an expansion in 2025, allowing for increased staffing and new technology.