A new, 24/7 surveillance camera hub was unveiled Monday by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police brass, with officials saying it’s already helping solve the street crimes that plagued the District last year.
The high-tech center, comprised of hundreds of cameras with plans to add up to 600 more, along with a collection of automated license plate readers and gunshot detectors, will serve what Police Chief Pamela Smith said will be “the epicenter of how MPD responds to crimes.”
The monitoring apparatus was launched as the District tries to distance itself from a 2023 surge in violent crime that saw a 26-year-high in killings, record-high carjackings and scores of muggings that terrorized residents and visitors alike.
But Chief Smith said violent crime is down 22% so far this year and there are sizable drops in most major offenses. Police are counting on the surveillance hub, a sprawling system of cameras that can potentially tap into doorbell, home security and CCTV feeds, to keep driving crime down in the District.
“Cameras across the city will be a force multiplier for public safety, allowing us to provide real-time information to responding officers. That is a very powerful crime-fighting tool,” Chief Smith said. “What we know is that video footage helps the Metropolitan Police Department officers quickly and effectively solve cases. It also serves as a strong … deterrent for those intending to commit crimes.”
Early returns are promising for the crime center, which has been operating at near 100% capacity since February.
The chief said investigators inside MPD’s headquarters helped patrol officers nab two robbery suspects Friday in Petworth.
Minutes after getting a 911 call about the robbery near the intersection of Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue in Northwest, Chief Smith said the crime center shared images and descriptions of the suspects with officers. The pair of thieves was arrested in the area shortly afterward.
The new system is also helping authorities broadcast public lookouts for dangerous suspects.
CCTV stills of the suspect who shot and killed a 14-year-old boy at D.C.’s Brookland Metro Station last week were quickly posted on social media thanks to the crime center team, the chief said.
Before the center was up and running, investigators would’ve had to manually sift through all the nearby footage to find the right suspect and nail down a description.
Chief Smith stressed that residents who register their personal cameras with the city don’t give MPD live access to their feeds. Registrants instead will be notified by police if their cameras may have captured a crime, and the owners of the camera will get to choose what footage they pass on to authorities.
Businesses, apartment complexes and other commercial properties, on the other hand, can choose to integrate their cameras with the department and give police instant access to the feed if there’s a crime nearby.
Major corporate partners, such as security company Kastle Systems, are throwing their weight behind the crime center push.
Kastle Co-Chairman Mark Ein — who is also one of the new minority owners of the NFL’s Washington Commanders — said the company has 212 cameras committed, 200 more in the works and another 200 planned for the future “and we’ve just started.”
Ms. Bowser said her fiscal year 2025 budget calls for 200 more city-funded cameras to be installed. She hopes to add 400 more over the next three years as well.
Investigators survey crimes in the District by using a Google Maps-type display that shows a variety of emergency calls occurring across the city.
Red markers signal high-priority 911 calls, such as a violent crime, while yellow markers signal calls for incidents such as shoplifting or a car accident. Investigators can also click on camera icons to tap into registered feeds and will get pinged when D.C.’s expansive gunshot detection system picks up threatening noise.
“This is an active effort with other agencies in and around the metropolitan area, it’s not just the Metropolitan Police Department that’s making this investment,” Chris Lindenau, the founder of crime center’s software operator, Fusus by Axon, said. “It’s all of the outlying departments in the area, this concept of a rising tide that lifts all boats.”
The crime center has been billed as a regional partnership, with buy-in from suburban departments in Virginia and Maryland as well as federal and transit agencies based in the District.
Chief Smith said the collaboration right now involves members of the partnering agencies physically manning a post at the hub. But the chief did say she hopes those jurisdictions are open to integrating their cameras into D.C. police’s system.
The network of cameras raised privacy concerns from some organizations when it was first announced in December. The D.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the crime center could violate people’s individual rights given the amount of surveillance involved.
But for Ms. Bowser and other city leaders, it represents full-throated support of the District’s need to bolster public safety after a harrowing 2023.
Relentless violence last year fueled outrage from both residents and federal lawmakers, who took a particular interest in the District’s governance during the crime wave.
Congress, which oversees the District, shot down a massive City Council rewrite of the city’s criminal code that federal lawmakers saw as too criminal-friendly.
And D.C. leadership was also skewered during multiple congressional hearings — especially U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, whose office handles most major crimes in the city, for only prosecuting one-third of the cases brought to him two years ago.
The mayor’s budget proposal for the new fiscal year also calls for beefing up the number of police officers on city streets.
The roughly 3,300 officers currently on D.C.’s police force is a 50-year-low for the department.
The attrition came after D.C. Council members Charles Allen, Ward 6 Democrat, and to a lesser degree Brianne Nadeau, Ward 1 Democrat, were vocal proponents for cutting police numbers in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Mr. Allen and Ms. Nadeau are both facing grassroots recall efforts for what citizens call their anti-cop, pro-criminal advocacy.
Ms. Bowser, meanwhile, is hoping the D.C. Council will support her budget request.
“The budget fully funds MPDs requested hiring level to achieve, for the first time in five years, a net gain of new officers. That means we will be able to hire and retain more officers than who are leaving or retiring.”