A 24/7 intelligence center for law enforcement can go by a lot of different names: Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC), Real-Time Operations Center, and Real-Time Crime Center, just to name a few. Whatever you choose to call yours, your operations center has the potential to reinvent how you protect your community.
What a Real Time Intelligence Center does
A real-time intelligence center can be a multipurpose room. It’s not just about crime — you can monitor traffic, weather patterns, and more from a single data hub. With an RTIC as the central location of so much data, interested parties can get all the information they need in a quick, efficient way.
Here are just some of the ways you and your team can benefit from an RTIC:
- Increase productivity through an efficient workflow
- These spaces leverage cutting-edge technology, thoughtful spatial planning, and customized solutions to create optimized operations spaces. Having a centralized hub for all of this allows you to create an efficient workflow, which will increase your force’s productivity.
- Provide real-time situational awareness
- These intelligence centers combine the information into one hub for situational awareness. Large video walls within these command and control spaces contribute to operator awareness and collaboration by displaying real-time data from every relevant source onto a viewing platform visible to everyone in the room.
- Monitor agency assets and critical infrastructure
- With constant monitoring and relevant alerts, an RTIC ensures your buildings, assets, people, and even data are safe. And if something goes wrong, you’ll have the information at your fingertips to react quickly. A real-time intelligence center also pools information from sources such as traffic cameras, drone videos, CAD systems, LPRs, and even social media, allowing you a more comprehensive view of the landscape of public safety in your jurisdiction.
- Execute your policing strategy more effectively
- When it comes to public safety, having that extra edge can make all the difference. With the information and organized workflow of a real-time crime center, your team is empowered to carry out what is necessary in the most effective and efficient way possible.
- Support collaboration among analysts and investigators
- Having the extra edge provided by an RTIC can make all the difference. With the information and organized workflow, your team is empowered to carry out what is necessary in the most effective and efficient way possible.
- Reduce response time
- Having a centralized real-time intelligence center empowers your team to have critical information as events unfold, instead of after. The sooner you can receive and act on relevant information, the better — and the RTIC empowers you to do just that.
How to get the most use out of your RTIC
An RTIC is meant to be a multifunctional room. On a day-to-day basis, there are analysts in the RTIC working on cases with detectives, and the RTIC serves as a central hub of information. All the databases your force needs can be accessed from a single spot.
Other agencies may also benefit from access to that information. In a crisis, a real-time intelligence center can serve as the center of action for all agencies in the area. From the FBI and DEA to regional fire and police departments, multiple agencies can benefit from the localized information in an RTIC.
For example, if there is a series of break-ins in one section of a county that borders another, both counties’ agencies can work together using the RTIC to gather important information.
Many RTICs have collaborative spaces such as war rooms attached with lines of sight to the main displays. Often, SWAT teams will use these spaces for briefings while other agents use the main room of the RTIC for separate investigations.
A real-time intelligence center can also help you make the most of the resources that you already have. With the data provided by an RTIC, you can figure out the best allocation of resources and deploy officers more efficiently.
The important thing to know is that a real-time intelligence center provides a whole new way of policing. It’s not just having the room, but how you make it work for your organization. It’s important to develop the right team and resources to use the technology to its fullest potential. Having a strategy for how you use the information you will receive from the RTIC is vital to making effective use of the technology.
Creating your RTIC and Costs to Prepare For
Typically the process of creating an RTIC begins with preliminary research into all of the requirements.
Constant Technologies offers innovative video wall systems, console furniture, and programming solutions for real-time intelligence centers. Our partnership includes design, project management, installation, and service and support.
However, we are not the only vendor you’ll need to consider as you plan costs for your RTIC. There will also likely be software licenses and new hires as well as physical asset costs such as construction. As a partner in the creation of your RTIC, Constant can guide you through choices in software and construction, but you will still need to engage with other vendors.
There are a number of ways you can get funds for an RTIC. Some of our clients have worked directly with their town councils, while others apply for grants. In some cases, clients have been able to use GS forfeiture money to fund these types of projects, though not every department may authorize this use. Each department is different, so look into your specific policies as you explore ways to secure funding for an RTIC.
A real time intelligence center can be revolutionary for the way your jurisdiction handles public safety. If you are ready to learn more, contact Constant today for a free design and budget consultation.
About Constant:
Constant Technologies, Inc. provides AV integration for 24/7 video walls and custom operation center furniture. With 30+ years of experience, we can work with sensitive environments in the public and private sectors. Constant designs and installs projects of all scopes and sizes around the world. We also offer long-term service and support. We create solutions with the highest levels of security, aesthetics and functionality in mind.
