Got a security camera in Broward? You could become part of BSO's crime-prevention program
MIAMI - With thousands of cameras for high-tech crime prevention being used by the Broward Sheriff's Office, county residents with compatible security systems could now become part of a crime-prevention program.
The impressive display of electronics at the "BSO Real Time Crime Center" is connected to more than 19,000 cameras throughout Broward County.
The crime prevention technology was spawned from tragedy and the MSD Commission.
"We built this facility out so we can have better access to camera systems in our schools. And it really has grown beyond that," said BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony.
And so has the facility, once just 400-square feet of space has blossomed into what it is today.
"We stole this concept. This is not new in what real-time crime centers are supposed to do."
"We learned. One of our leads here is Captain Riggio, who came out of New York City post 9-11, where he had a lot of experience building out their system. So, when he came into the organization, it just made sense."
"We have some hard lessons learned. We lost 17 people on our watch."
And now every school in Broward is outfitted with cameras in classrooms, halls, and outside of buildings.
BSO Lt. Dave Fernandez gave CBS4 Miami a tour of the facility.
"If there's an incident at a school, let's say, the call is coming in of shots fired at a baseball field, the guys can click on the map, click on the closest camera and the 16 closest cameras to that will all open up at the same time and they can provide intelligence to the responding units."
The real-time crime center now has access to cameras at houses of worship, businesses, gas stations .
And beginning this month, homeowners can become part of the system.
The cameras used would only be lenses pointed in public areas - nothing private.
"You see all the dots that have the camera icons in it, that right there displays where each individual camera is at."
Lt. Fernandez guarantees - in the last 2 years - the system helped avoid some sort of mass incident.
Stopping just one crime, the system is deemed a success, but it's reach goes beyond that.
"We've investigated 1,600 individuals that may have exhibited some type of threat to the community. Over 200 of those resulted in arrests."
If you live in Broward and have home security, you can now be a part of this program.
Click here to learn more about BSO's Public-Private Partnership program.
The Sheriff told CBS4 he's looking to make the program even more prolific and has allocated $10 million to build it out even further.
