(TNS) — Spokane County deputies will now receive real-time information pulled directly from surveillance cameras, social media feeds and other law enforcement agencies while responding to calls for service.

The Spokane County Board of Commissioners and Sheriff’s Office unveiled the agency’s latest addition, a real-time crime center staffed by three analysts with a litany of information sources at their fingertips. Commissioners used nearly $4 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan to launch the project, which is the first center of its kind in Washington.

Commission Chair Mary Kuney said the creation of the center is an investment in public safety and will help the Sheriff’s Office respond to crimes more effectively and efficiently.

“We are equipping our Sheriff’s Office with state-of-the-art resources, as you can see in this room, that will allow them to analyze data in real time, improve situational awareness for our deputies and respond more quickly to our residents,” Kuney said. said.

The center resembles a room you might see on a prime-time TV show about law and justice, with walls covered in screens displaying camera feeds, data imposed on maps and feeds live dispatch directly from Spokane Regional Emergency Communications. Sitting in front of several computer screens at the front of the room, three analysts use the information flowing through the room to better prepare deputies for the scene they are responding to, said Dustin Baunsgard, the center’s acting supervisor.

While regional 911 center dispatchers may have to deal with dozens of calls in progress and not be able to delve into a particular case, analysts can look on a much deeper scale, Baunsgard said. They can obtain a suspect’s criminal history, a live feed of the scene if there are accessible cameras, and leverage radio communications between responding officers to give them an idea of ​​the scene before they arrive.

Providing this additional information can lead to better policing and faster justice for victims, said Lt. Justin Elliott, commander of the sheriff’s office intelligence unit. Using the center to accurately identify suspects, suspicious vehicles, or the circumstances of a situation could prevent the arrest of innocent individuals who may match a description, or the use of force by a deputy rushing into a potentially dangerous, he said.

“By doing this, we can be virtually on site, we can deploy drones and get information remotely,” Elliott said. “You put an officer in a situation where they’re face to face with someone with very little information, and there’s a high probability of a negative outcome. So the more we know when that officer comes into contact, the more precise it will be.” “.

County deputies, including those who work at the Spokane Valley Police Department, are the center’s primary benefactors, but Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said it is intended to be a tool available to everyone regional law enforcement agencies. The city of Spokane Valley helped fund the project by committing $850,000 from its own American Rescue Plan to build the center.

Analysts have live cameras from intersections and county roads, some of which are provided by the agency’s own resources, such as retired officers’ vehicles now equipped with cameras or digital speedometer panels equipped license plate readers.

The system also includes feeds from private companies that have agreed to allow access to the agency, as well as cameras in each local school district that Nowels says are only accessed when absolutely necessary .

Elliot, Baunsgard and Nowels all stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in the use of the system, and the safeguards in place they hope will give the public confidence that the center is being run ethically and responsibly . Cameras, information and data are used in a targeted manner for specific calls and are not used to research cases. Camera feeds include only those publicly available or those provided with permission, and no traffic citations will be issued using any of these technologies.

Quarterly reports on the center’s operations will also be presented to county commissioners, Nowels said.

“We are fighting perceptions,” Baunsgard said. “When you operate in a room like this, everyone thinks there’s voodoo going on here. We want to be transparent about everything we do, and we’re open about everything, but we don’t know not always. how to communicate it.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mark Gregory said business owners interested in providing access to their camera feeds can contact the agency’s front office or visit its website to register and learn more .

Nowels said the sheriff’s office has already seen results from the center, noting that it was used in recent weeks to quell rumors of an active shooter at a Spokane Valley school by accessing cameras before the arrival of deputies. School staff and students were able to continue their day without intrusion from law enforcement.

“Really, that’s what we’re looking for here at the Real-Time Crime Center,” Nowels said. “And with our intelligence-led approach to policing, it’s the absence of crime that can be very difficult to quantify.”

The center also helped find 11 missing people, recover 135 stolen vehicles and lead to the arrest or charges of 245 suspects since last year, Nowels said. He thinks he and other county leaders will likely look back in 10 years and wonder how they ever fought crime without the center.

“We’ve already had such a huge impact that I think is well worth the significant investment from our Spokane County commissioners,” Nowels said.

© 2024 The Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.