New Orleans

One Year Later: New Orleans' Real-Time Crime Center

New Orleans' Real-Time Crime Center has helped to solve numerous crimes over the last year.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Dec 06, 2018

New Orleans' Real-Time Crime Center has helped the city to become a safety place, according to city officials earlier this week. Just one year after the implementation of the center, New Orleans' Mayor LaToya Cantrell and NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison expressed confidence in the center's overall ability to help police and investigators in several crimes around the city.

The center has hundreds of live camera feeds and an 18-member staff that have helped solve violent crimes citywide, notably raising clearance rates in tourist-heavy parts of downtown and salvaging police man-hours. The camera feeds have also aided in responses to flooding and illegal dumping, according to officials.

"In our first year, we have successfully deployed technology, training staff and streamlined operations to support our public safety agencies on the ground," said Collin Arnold, director of the city's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, which oversees the Real-Time Crime Center. 

The officials believe this first year of the center has only really scratched the surface of its bandwidth, features and ability to create a safer city for New Orleans residents and visitors. The Real-Time Crime Center is looking to expand the number of surveillance feeds as residential and commercial cameras become more integrated into the system. For example, the World War II Museum has integrated its 50 cameras into the system.

The Real-Time Crime Center could also access 6,000 cameras registered through the SafeCam NOLA and SafeCam Platinum programs, which allow residents, businesses and others to register their private cameras with the city to allow police to quickly locate camera footage after a crime occurs. 

The center will also begin to be used in more ways, such as partnering with EMS and fire agencies to use real-time footage to investigate fires or find the least-trafficked routes to the hospital.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.