Introduction

The purpose of a Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) is to help law enforcement agencies solve crime by leveraging modern technologies. Whether using detection technologies to flag a video feed when something doesn’t seem quite right or using machine learning to decode what happened during an incident, police forces must bring the most advanced tools to bear in fighting today’s criminals.

From intelligence gathering to delivering leads, internal communication is an important part of this entire process to reduce crime, improve officer safety, and increase case clearance. In many RTCCs, communicating information gained from something like a license plate reader (LPR) can be problematic. If you’re in a situation where specialized dispatch and patrol units are simultaneously trying to share information with each other, the results can be confusing. 

Adding to the difficulty is the fact that local police departments often use a variety of communication protocols and disparate systems and technology, such as radio and email v. other chat platforms like Teams or Signal, within their agency and across units. This can lead to its own set of issues including failure to properly deconflict between units working overlapping cases and a lack of consolidation of crucial information. 

But these challenges also mean there are a wide variety of opportunities for making law enforcement more effective by facilitating better communications between internal RTCC teams.  Here are some best practices for improving internal communication and effectively sharing LPR evidence within your agency and with other RTCCs. 

Improve internal communication by consolidating communication tools

By default, police departments tend to employ a variety of tools to make sure everyone is on the same page. Patrol units tend to communicate primarily via radio, with the occasional email thrown in for good measure. Information sharing between parties like RTCC, dispatch, and patrol, on the other hand, often happens over apps that allow encrypted text messages, such as Signal. 

And of course, agencies also use numerous software applications. Many of these software platforms allow encrypted chatting and file sharing, and patrol officers can (and do) create their own internal hot lists using LPR cameras. 

This bewildering variety of communication methods can lead to important details falling through the cracks. 

If you recognize that your agency is having some of these issues, try narrowing it down to just one communication tool. Think about the technologies you’re currently using and avoid delays in communication by picking the one that works best for you. NRTCCA’s Detective Erik Lavigne recommends using a platform like Microsoft Teams to share information within individual teams and across teams because of its ability to share videos and other large files such as images of suspects' vehicles.  

Having a single tool for communication centralizes all information and lessens the likelihood that crucial, time-sensitive information will be missed. Seconds matter in RTCC, and police help no one when they are coordinating in a less-than-optimal manner. 

But creating better alignment for internal teams isn’t the only reason to adopt a one-tool approach. Effective information sharing is also important for external communication and deconfliction. 

Connect with adjacent RTCCs through communication tools

Event deconfliction, or simply deconfliction, refers to any process that makes police officers or detectives aware of the fact that they’re doing something in close proximity to other law enforcement agents. An event could include almost anything, from searching a building and making an arrest to conducting surveillance or working undercover. If two events have the same time, date, and location, a conflict results, and all the officers involved need to be notified so the events can be deconflicted. 

Because of the delicacy and inherent danger of many types of events, deconfliction is a crucial part of keeping civilians, officers, and even suspects safe. If deconfliction isn’t handled properly, the consequences can be severe. 

Of course, conflicts can happen among agents in one jurisdiction or among agents across multiple jurisdictions, so it’s important for RTCCs to be connected with RTCCs in other areas. This helps with deconfliction, but it also helps with the sharing of hot list information (more on hot lists in the next section). 

Understanding the importance of good communication is easier with a concrete example. Suppose you have a suspect that’s heading outside of your jurisdiction, and you have easy communication between your RTCC and neighboring RTCCs. In such a case, one team can connect with the other and provide them with access to technology, like LPR cameras, to ensure that suspects are apprehended. This, in turn, will lead to an overall decrease in crime. 

Share Hot List Additions by Updating Reports and Sending Emails

A hot list is a list of leads in which local law enforcement is especially interested. There is more than one kind of hot list, but common types include lists of known, wanted suspects and lists of stolen vehicles. 

When making updates after arresting or talking to someone on a Flock Hot List, make sure everyone knows how important it is to update reports and send emails or other types of messages through the appropriate channels. Deconfliction won’t catch everything on its own, and this kind of proactive communication helps law enforcement agencies coordinate effectively. 

Leverage LPR Cameras to Boost RTCC Capabilities

Streamlining communications between agencies is vital to keeping communities safe, but it’s also important to recognize the role played by technology in the process. To quote Sgt. Dalton Webb, Former Supervisor at the Fort Worth PD RTCC and current Head of RTCC Strategy at Flock Safety, "Walls, desks, and headcount don’t make a real-time crime center; technology does.” 

The broader point is that technology is an indispensable tool for providing the kind of hard evidence and quality investigative leads needed to investigate and prosecute crimes. 

To drive this fact home, it helps to examine the role played by a particular technology: LPR cameras. When LPR cameras are deployed around a community, law enforcement has access to real-time data that it can use to respond to developing situations. This is an extremely powerful advantage in the ongoing battle to keep civilians safe. 

What’s more, building LPR cameras into your RTCC also makes it easy to disseminate information through hot list deconfliction, as it then becomes possible to quickly note when a suspect commits crimes in multiple jurisdictions.

And with Flock Safety Vehicle Fingerprint™, you can boost your ability to search for vehicles beyond simple license plate numbers. With Vehicle Fingerprint™, you can search by vehicle make, body type, and color, the state in which the license plate was issued, whether a plate is missing or covered, and unique vehicle details like bumper stickers. 

Conclusion

The world is changing, and law enforcement must change with it. Technology has made it far easier for criminals to commit crimes and hide their tracks, and the only way for law enforcement to meet a rising technological threat is by using better technology. 

By focusing on one communication tool, sending regular updates when hot lists change, and leveraging the power of LPR cameras and Flock Safety’s Vehicle Fingerprint, law enforcement can serve, protect, and stay safe at the same time. 

Flock Safety is a public safety operating system that helps communities and law enforcement in 5000+ cities work together to eliminate crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias. We build devices that capture objective evidence and use machine learning to create and deliver unbiased investigative leads to law enforcement. Flock Safety serves 5000 cities in 45+ states and is helping solve hundreds of crimes every day.