Broward Sheriff's Office adds real-time crime centers

COOPER CITY - The Broward County Sheriff's Office now has four real-time crime centers in its arsenal to solve crimes.

"We've essentially got Big Brother on steroids," said Cooper City Mayor Greg Ross.

The newest Real-Time Crime Center in Cooper City has been equipped with the latest technology to trace a suspect's movements across area.  

"This is an example of the cameras that we have," said a deputy.

One of the features deputies showed off was the ability to track and pull up all instances of a person on the move, in the demonstration, a deputy walked around Cooper City's City Hall.

"So, if I was able to say this is our guy, what else did he do at City Hall?" asked a deputy.

CBS News Miami later saw all the recordings pull up almost instantly.  

This is something law enforcement calls a force multiplier, meaning it adds more manpower to the force. 

This center will also work in conjunction with the real-time crime center at the Broward County Sheriff's Office headquarters.

It can also use information from license plate readers and send alerts when a car is picked up. 

So, what about privacy?

"Well, we have to remember that in the state of Florida, we have a very robust records retention law, and with the Sunshine laws, we abide by all of those. All of the data that we collect, if it's tied to criminal investigations, will be uploaded to our evidence.com, a cloud-based server where that information will be stored," said Broward County Sheriff's Office Capt. Christopher De Giovanni.

De Giovanni added, anyone can make a public records request to find out what information was collected. 

Cooper City has continually been rated as one of the safest cities to live in locally, Mayor Greg Ross sees this as a proactive step to ensure it stays that way.  

"When they are out and about, the police are watching. They don't have to be seen. In fact, it's better if they're not, but everyone is being watched. And if you're doing nothing wrong, it doesn't matter what you're doing. But when you're doing something wrong, we're going to find out. We're going to have the wherewithal to come and get you," said Ross.