Northern Colorado police department using drones, city cameras and more to help first responders
The City of Greeley has become the first community in Northern Colorado to establish a "real time information center," a technological tool that allows the police department to use city cameras and drones to better assist first responders.
The RTIC operates under the police department's supervision and allows a team of civilian employees to access cameras and drones throughout Greeley to monitor situations as they unfold.
"It is not a new concept; it is just new to Northern Colorado. And we want to be leaders in Northern Colorado on how we address public safety," said Adam Turk, chief of police in Greeley.
Turk said the city council approved his agency to move forward with developing the RTIC, which he says will help the agency utilize current technology more efficiently.
The RTIC is currently housed inside a Greeley fire station while the city prepares to build out an actual facility for the new wing of the police department. A team of four people, all with backgrounds in first response and policing, now spend their shifts listening to police and fire radio traffic.
Turk said the team already has access to the city's many traffic cameras and a series of drones operated by the police department. The goal is to continuously add the amount of access they have to public surveillance systems, including those inside schools.
Turk said that if a shooter enters a school, the team would be able to immediately access the school's surveillance cameras in order to provide responding officers the most clear and concise information to assist them in their response. However, he said the team would otherwise not access the cameras without report of emergency.
Mark Spiden, one of the team members of the RTIC, used to work as a police officer abroad. He said he would've felt more supported and safe if he had the assistance officers and firefighters now have in Greeley.
He noted several hypothetical situations in which the RTIC can be of use for responding agencies. That included one situation they have already encountered in a real-world scenario, where a 911 caller reported a serious injury accident.
Typically that would require an officer, firefighters and medics to respond emergent to the scene. However, when RTIC staff accessed the traffic camera near the scene they were able to see the accident was not as bad as the callers suggested. That was then communicated to officers and others.
"(Police) don't need to be racing with blue lights to an accident where there are no injuries. Where everyone is out, walking and talking and they are okay," Spiden said.
The agency said this also allows first responders in Greeley to expand their use of drones. That includes the ability to follow a car that is evading an officer by drone, ridding of the need for an officer to chase them and put innocent bystanders at risk. The agency demonstrated how the team at the RTIC was able to watch a live stream of the drone as it followed a car for miles.
Turk said the hope is to one day have drones that can self-deploy to reports of fires, giving the agencies responding a more clear idea of how big of a fire they should be preparing to fight before they even get there.
First responders will have access to be able to see some of the images the RTIC can transfer to their field computers.
"We know a drone will most likely beat an officer, a fire engine or an ambulance to a scene," Turk said.
The RTIC is also able to monitor the location of the body cameras of officers in the area, helping keep note of where they are during any situation. And, the plan is to invest in software that will allow the RTIC to access live streams of the officers' body cameras as they are working.
Turk admitted he knew some in the public may be concerned when they hear first responder agencies, funded by the government, are now using surveillance cameras each day. However, he said his agency has approached each step of the process with asking how they can make sure the public has transparency.
"I know that people are concerned when it comes to cameras and technology, about government overreach and big brother. That is on the front of our minds when we create policy and deploy technology," Turk said.
That is why the agency plans to release all their drone flight data after an incident concludes. Turk said they would not provide live reports of drones actively flying, noting that could jeopardize investigations in which the agencies are trying to complete without suspect knowing. He suggested all flight data be publicly shared online immediately after investigations into an incident are completed.
"There is a lot of investment in technology here that is exciting and makes the job safer," Spiden said.
The city is using federal funds, in part, to build a new facility for the RTIC to be housed in. The goal is for that facility to be opened and fully operational in the first quarter of 2025. The city also anticipates hiring more staff to work in the RTIC.
Turk said the future facility will feature a wall with a series of screens, giving the team a better ability to monitor emergencies as they happen.
Turk and the city gained some of their inspiration from a similar setup in Arizona which has been operating for years. He said one city in Arizona was able to help a mother locate her child who had ran away from the park they were visiting. Before the officers arrived on scene the RTIC in that community was able to access cameras, rewind them and then follow the boy's tracks into a nearby store.
The city also plans to install two devices in targeted communities that will be able to detect gunfire before anyone calls 911. Then the RTIC staff can jump into nearby cameras to monitor the situation.
Turk said he believed this wasn't the city creating new technology, but rather finding ways to better utilize the technologies that already exist in order to better assist first responders in their service to the community.
"It is the future of policing. It is a lot better than we were doing before," Spiden said.
