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This state of the art center provides the Gary Police Department technologically advanced tools to help address crime and to make our community safer for our citizens and visitors. Since its inception, Operation Safe Zone and the Real Time Crime Center has proven itself as a valuable and necessary resource by continually providing information to Officers on the street in a way that is both clear and actionable.
The RTCC is focused on monitoring, deterring and evaluating criminal activity in real-time through the use of surveillance cameras, fixed and mobile license plate recognition (LPR) systems, crime analysis and other law enforcement software and databases.
The Real Time Crime Center is a critical component of the Gary Police Department’s comprehensive gun violence reduction strategy such as Gary for Life and Operation Safe Zone. The City of Gary has not been immune to the nationwide increase in gun violence. Gary has experienced a significant increase in Violent Crime since 2022, with statistical data showing alarming trends:
In response to the alarming increase in gun violence within the City, the Gary Police Department (GPD) conducted an in-depth internal review of how the GPD could improve prevention, detection, and response to gun-related violent incidents. While not all acts of violence can be prevented, GPD concluded that additional tools, technologies, and capabilities could lead to better detection and response to gun-involved violent incidents, ultimately leading to desired outcomes, which include deterrence of gun violence in Gary. To achieve more effective detection and response, GPD will establish the Gary Police Department Real-Time Crime Center (GRTCC), which will include increased technological capabilities and additional tools.
In May of 2023, the Gary Police Department’s (GPD) Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) was unveiled at Police Headquarters located at 555 Polk Street. The RTCC is manned with Certified Police Officers and Civilian Staff 16-hours a day and 365 days a year.
The RTCC took over the functions of the GPD Crime Analyst Division, quickly becoming the technology and information center for the GPD.
The staff assigned to the RTCC gather and disseminate information throughout the City of Gary. The RTCC is focused on monitoring, deterring and evaluating criminal activity in real-time through the use of surveillance cameras, fixed and mobile license plate recognition (LPR) systems, crime analysis and other law enforcement software, databases and initiatives such as Operation Safe Zone (OSZ). The RTCC/OSZ provides investigative support to the first responders on scenes, as well as to the Detectives handling the follow-up investigations. The RTCC/OSZ is focused on improving GPD’s situational awareness with the #1 goal to increase the safety of all GPD Police Officers and Citizens.
Phase 1 of the RTCC project began when the City of Gary and Gary Police Department collaborated to keep the City of Gary Safe and unveiled Operation Safe Zone in June of 2022.
Operation Safe Zone is a new public safety program enabling the people of Gary to help keep their community safe which includes the integration of surveillance camera technology, license plates recognition (LPR) technology, Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) and Raven Shot Detection.
Your participation will greatly enhance emergency preparedness by enabling police, fire and public safety professionals to better assess and rapidly respond to criminal activity and emergency situations. It will also enable investigators to easily gather evidence in case of an incident.
Let’s work together to fight crime! Register your security cameras with ConnectGary today to help identify area cameras in case of an incident. An investigator from the Gary Police Department will contact you via email if they need your assistance solving a crime near you.
Camera registration takes less than one minute via our secure online portal. Registering your cameras does not allow the Gary Police Department access to your live video stream, it only enables investigators to know a camera is present at your location and easily request video evidence should an incident occur.
Businesses can take community security one step further by giving the Gary Police Department direct access to your camera feed in case of a nearby emergency.
To register your cameras go to connectgary.org or scan the code to go directly to the portal.
