NORFOLK, VA – One year after opening its doors the City of Norfolk’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) is continuing to enhance police response capabilities and increase public safety efforts by serving as a centralized hub for new technology and data systems.
Since becoming fully operational in May 2024, the RTCC has played an important role in identifying patterns, providing information to responding officers, and coordinating resources during incidents.
As the Department continues to rely on data-informed policing, the addition of the RTCC has further propelled the Norfolk Police Department into the next wave of policing. When an incident occurs, RTCC staff rely on the speed of technology to become a force multiplier for the officers who are responding to a call and work to provide support during active investigations.
Staffed seven days a week between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., the RTCC is comprised of a Commanding Officer, a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, three sworn law enforcement officers, and eight civilian crime analysts who work on rotating shifts.
Cameras include public cameras, license plate reader data, community-based cameras, and private cameras owned by residents and businesses who have chosen to register or integrate their systems with the RTCC.
RTCC Staff also have access to live footage provided by Officer Body Worn Cameras.
Making our communities the safest they can be remains the primary goal of the Norfolk Police Department, and having an established Real Time Crime Center only expands our capability to do that, says Police Chief Mark Talbot. The Real Time Crime Center is not about saturating public spaces with cameras - it’s about helping your neighbors should they fall victim to a crime by increasing the amount of video evidence that is readily available for Detectives working the case, and it’s about increasing the number of cameras available in an area so that officers can quickly locate a missing person who is in a vulnerable state or in need medical assistance. The Real Time Crime Center has equipped our organization to be able to function in a way we have never been able to before by allowing us to leverage new technology to become familiar with geographical spaces while we rely on data-driven policing to guide decisions.
If you are interested in partnering with the Norfolk Police Department to register or integrate your camera system you can visit connectnorfolk.org or call the RTCC at 757-664-7700 for additional information.
Registration takes less than a minute and can be done via a secure online portal. Registering your cameras does not allow the Norfolk Police Department access to your live video stream - it only allows the police department to know a camera is present at a location and be able to easily request video evidence should an incident occur nearby.
