Today, technological advances continue to be made that make our personal lives easier. Watching movies, transferring funds electronically, video conferencing and home security are just a few of the more common ways in which we have grown very accustomed to the benefits that technology provides.
This can also be said for the field of law enforcement. Technology is now helping law enforcement fight crimes and save lives. That’s why I’m very excited to announce the recent launch of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Center (RTCC).
The Sheriff’s Office is now partnering with Fusus, a company that operates a cloud-based platform that integrates security cameras from businesses and residents who volunteer to opt in, to establish the crime center. The success of this program all hinges on the buildout of the camera access, and we are currently working to increase that.
There are a couple of ways you can help out. The first way is by simply registering your security cameras with the Sheriff’s Office to help us identify area cameras in case of an incident. With this option, a sheriff’s investigator would contact you via email if they need your assistance solving a crime that occurred near you. The other option is to integrate your business or home security camera to give the Sheriff’s Office direct access to your camera feed during a nearby in-progress emergency. If interested in either of these options, or for more information, please visit www.connectlakecounty.org.
The benefits to having such resources available that can receive real-time, live updates will be tremendous, and recent testimonials from law enforcement administrators speak volumes to these benefits. One agency spoke of how quickly a residential burglary and a fatal hit-and-run were solved. An administrator of another agency touts the partnership with the community and explains how supportive their citizens are of the initiative. Another administrator calls the platform a “game changer” as he describes how it enhances his agency’s emergency responses. The fact of the matter is that this initiative can solve crime and save lives.
The Real Time Crime Center is housed at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Tavares with analysts and detectives assigned to it. The analysts also routinely monitor our in-house dispatching screens, as well as use other law enforcement resources and databases to identify crime trends and provide information to our detectives to help them solve crimes.
As always, thank you for your support and stay safe!
Guest columns are the opinion of the writer, not necessarily that of The News Leader.
