Baltimore County police responding to reported crimes will now have the real-time backing of a team monitoring nearby surveillance cameras, tracing license plate data and checking relevant social media posts to help catch suspects and keep officers safe.

One official called it the department’s “eyes in the sky.”

The Information Nexus for Operations (INFO) Center, unveiled to reporters and local officials on Wednesday at the department’s Towson headquarters, marks “a new era” in public safety across the county, Police Chief Robert McCullough said. According to the chief, it will provide “timely, accurate and actionable” intelligence to officers focusing on the scene or crisis at hand.

The INFO Center has already assisted patrol teams with more than 500 incidents during a trial run of the system, officials said.

“This is a game changer,” McCullough said.

With several banks of computer monitors and a large display screen at the front of the room, a team of sworn officers, police assistants and retired detectives will be able to quickly access any existing surveillance cameras and technology around a scene to give personnel “greater situational awareness” as they make their way or start their response.

“We want to make sure that we’re continuing to invest our personnel in the places where we can make the biggest difference,” said Colonel Joseph Conger, bureau chief for the department’s Administrative and Technical Services. “And by reallocating some personnel here, we feel like we’re doing that.”

Authorities said staff members at the INFO Center will access and research video feeds, license plate numbers and other publicly available sources, like social media, when assisting with a police response.

Additionally, a group of 911 liaisons will be stationed near the INFO Center and will be able to alert the new unit to new cases quickly. McCullough said he hopes the INFO Center will help shorten the department’s current average response time of 7 minutes.

As an example of how information coordination helps in law enforcement, officials cited arrests they made after a string of liquor store robberies in the Wilkens area.

According to INFO Center Detective Jasmine Fleet, police set up cameras that caught an attempted break-in after using information from the department’s burglary unit. With the license plate number and access to officers’ body camera footage and aviation footage, the center was able to assist officers in making arrests.

The car the would-be burglars used was stolen, and authorities said they spoke with its owner before he even realized it was missing.

“Utilizing the cameras and the technologies, we’re able to track the officers and make sure they’re safe,” Fleet said.

Funded mainly through a $163,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, the INFO Center in Baltimore County follows similar enhancements to policing across the state and country, including in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. In February, the Anne Arundel County Police Department unveiled its own $1.5 million Real-Time Information Center at its Millersville headquarters.

McCullough said Wednesday that it was time for his department to follow suit.

“It’s to the point that we’re actually, literally going from the back of the pack when it comes to real-time crime centers in the nation to the front,” McCullough said.

The department also spends $300,000 annually on a cloud-based service that integrates the video feeds going to the center. Those funds, a spokesperson said, come from revenue generated by speed cameras.

County officials, including Executive Kathy Klausmeier and Councilman Julian Jones — both Democrats, attended the demonstration Wednesday. Jones called the new unit a “force multiplier” to the department’s abilities.

The chief described the INFO Center as his “vision” and “just the beginning” of tech-based programs they’ll announce in the coming weeks.

“To put it simply, when we invest in public safety, we’re investing in our people and our communities,” Klausmeier said.

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