The Killeen Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center, which will use camera technology to help solve crimes, is expected to be completed by December, police officials said.
The hardware for the software, called Fusus, is what Deputy Police Chief Alex Gearhart calls the “brain of the entire system.”
The software will interpret camera feeds and license registers, and the hardware will present them, according to Gearhart, “in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand way so we can get to that information quickly.”
Gearhart said some light construction work, such as wiring and configuring hardware, will be required, but no heavy construction.
He said the Real Time Crime Center will have a major impact on how KPD investigates and responds to crimes in real time.
“There are two different perspectives: One is real-time, and that’s where the cameras come in. We want to have as many eyes out there as possible,” he said.
He said the cameras will allow the KPD to see things going on in any part of the city. They will allow them to pull up incident updates on their computers. Even while on call, they will have “visual information about what is going on” and if they have visual descriptions of suspects and vehicles.
“And that’s part of that real-time information,” Gearhart said. “On the other hand, we often don’t learn about crimes until they happen. The cameras also help us with that because we can look back.”
He said they would be able to view “historical” camera data to help solve crimes.
KPD has access to all cameras owned by the city, as well as anyone who volunteers to register their camera with them through KPD Connect.
When a crime is committed, the KPD can contact people on the registry and ask for their camera information.
Gearhart emphasized that this was entirely voluntary.
According to the KPD Connect website, it has 180 registered and 57 integrated cameras.
Some residents had previously raised privacy concerns about the Fusus software.
Gearhart said Ring cameras and other similar cameras don’t have that kind of real-time capability, but companies with Apple TVs that have basic camera capabilities may be able to send a direct feed to KPD through KPD Connect.
He said that in the past, officers were often sent door-to-door during incidents to ask for camera footage.
“It would speed up the process,” Gearhart said of the new system.
He said they were not concerned about door cameras pointing at another door, but rather those pointing at the street. He said they were only requesting video from those in the public domain.
“It’s not an invasion of privacy to simply record the area in front of your house,” Gearhart said.
He said Fusus is also compatible with technology like Shotspotter, which can detect gunfire. However, he said the cost of that project would be in the millions of dollars and it would be just as effective for Killeen because it is designed for more built-up urban areas.
“Killeen is flatter and more spacious,” he said. “That’s why we didn’t pursue it any further.”
Another benefit of the Real Time Crime Center is that it expands the operations center so that officers can visually see where officers are in connection with incidents, Gearhart said.
Killeen experienced a spike in murder rates over the summer, but whether the Real Time Crime Center would reduce crime is a difficult question.
“We try to be as proactive as possible,” Gearhart said. “In reality, the response to crime is often reactive.”
For example, he explained that domestic violence is one of the leading causes of crime in Killeen.
“No camera on a pole or on the premises of a car dealership will help us prevent cases of domestic violence,” Gearhart said.
Nevertheless, he assured that it would help them to improve the overall response of the KPD.
“It’s definitely going to make us more efficient as far as how we respond to calls. Instead of sending an officer across town … we can send them down the street on the map,” Gearhart said. “That’s what we’re trying to do, to make us a little more efficient, catch some people in the act … and help us with our subsequent investigations.”
