by Liz Mullen
Hermosa Beach Police Department will receive $963,000 in federal funds for what Police Chief Paul LeBaron describes as a Real Time Crime Center.
“I have had people actually ask me, ‘Where is it going to be?'” LeBaron said in an interview on Tuesday.
The Real Time Crime Center will not be a physical building, but rather a technology platform that LeBaron believes will help police identify suspects quicker, keep officers safer, and help them catch suspects who otherwise may not have been caught.
HBPD already uses technology in crime work, including license plate recognition cameras at 14 street intersections, and cameras in high traffic areas like Pier Plaza, as well as drones.
“We are going to be able, with our Real Time Crime Center, to bring all of these technologies together. Now, each of them is from a different company, with different passwords, on different websites. We hope to bring them all together on one virtual platform.”
The grant is part of $11 million in federal funding that Congressman Ted Lieu secured for cities in his 36th Congressional district. Redondo Beach received $1.466 million in funding for dock replacements in King Harbor. Manhattan Beach received $200,000 for Peck Avenue storm drain improvements.
The Real Time Crime Center funds are the result of a proposal submitted to Lieu by the city.
“We are still early in this process,” LeBaron said. “We are probably a year away from seeing the money.”
HBPD is not reinventing the wheel with the Real Time Crime Center. “There are police departments out there who have various iterations of this,” LeBaron said. “One is the Beverly Hills Police Department. They have a very established real time crime center.”
HBPD has looked at real time crime centers in cities all around the country.
During his reports to the Hermosa Beach city council, LeBaron often talks about HBPD officers using technology, including video from witness’ cell phones, for evidence to solve crimes.
“I have a very big focus on technology,” LeBaron said. “We are not going to be able to fight crime effectively as a police department if we are not using everything that is available to us now and in the future.” ER
