The Scottsdale Police Department’s newest drone has made an impact on a number of recent high profile calls but that is just half of the department’s new technology-based approach to policing.
The new drone, which went into commission on Sept. 18, 2024, can fly up to 55 miles per hour and can reach calls within its two-mile operating radius in seconds.
It has already been used for calls like an armed stand off between police and a Scottsdale man refusing to leave his apartment Dec. 14, 2024.
The drone, which is outfitted with a camera capable of magnifying an image by 40 times, was able to see the man inside did indeed have a gun.
The drone itself is stationed on top of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in Old Town, but it’s flown by pilots miles away in the department’s real time crime center near the intersection of E. Via Linda and 91st Street.
While the drone might be the flashiest part of the center’s work, it is only half of what it does.
The center opened in February 2021. It monitors thousands of fixed cameras and license plate readers around the city to get extra eyes on the scene of calls in order to assist patrol officers with their duties.
“The goal of the (Real Time Crime Center) is to be another tool to help patrol employees to identify what is going on prior to their arrival (to a call), as this helps with identifying what resources are needed to keep the community safe,” department spokeswoman Sgt. Allison Sempsis said in an email to the Daily Independent.
But the center can do more than that, Scottsdale Real Time Crime Center Supervisor Chris Henningsen said. As word gets out, the presence of the cameras can serve as a deterrent to crime, he said.
And there are other ways the center helps.
In one incident, a center operator witnessed an officer get into a fight with someone and couldn’t call for backup so the center operator was able to put that call out.
It can also serve to warn residents of danger in an area.
“Do we have a name? Is there a phone number? Do we need to call someone to let them know that they need to leave their apartment because there’s an apartment fire at that location?” Henningsen said.
The concept isn’t new. There are about 10 police departments throughout the Valley with real time crime centers.
“In the next year, we’ll probably see an increase in the number of centers that opened up throughout the Valley,” Henningsen said.
He also said the center has been very successful.
“In the first 10 months of having license plate readers, we were able to recover over $1 million in stolen vehicles,” Henningsen said. “This is a partnership between our Real Time Crime Center and our detectives in investigations along with patrol: we’ve recovered over 50 vehicles, made over 60 felony arrests, five fire arms recovered ... We were also able to locate three missing people and identify two individuals were victims of human trafficking and get them out of that lifestyle.”
The center runs seven days per week including with modified hours each day.
Many of the cameras you see at intersections are part of the real time crime center’s network but the center also relies on cameras not owned by the city.
“The (Real Time Crime Center) does have many community partnerships throughout the city to include schools, churches, retail stores, small- to mid-sized businesses and other businesses,” Sempsis said.
And the center is always looking for more partners.
“If your subscribers are interested in becoming a partner with the Scottsdale (Police Department Real Time Crime Center) to share (their) video in real time to keep (their) customers and community safe, we welcome the opportunity to meet with them to share more about our Community Partner Program Partnership.”
The program does not utilize cameras on private residents, such as Ring Doorbells, though.
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