World-Class Real Time Crime Center

The Challenge

The City of Birmingham, Alabama has a very low-density population.  Policing a large area is challenging to personnel and equipment resources. The Birmingham Police Department (BPD) recognized that it had fallen behind in policing and investigation techniques, and wanted to use newly available technologies to bring its capabilities to world-class levels. The City recognized that effective policing and the protection of civil liberties are interdependent, and wanted to create a well-governed system to ensure these values were honored.

The Requirement

Design, construct, and implement the necessary physical and technological infrastructure to create a world-class Real Time Crime Center (RTCC). High-level objectives of the RTCC included:

• Establish a central hub to preserve evidence and crime scene information
• Provide real-time investigative support and situational awareness to officers responding to crimes
• Rapidly identify and respond to criminal incidents
• Manage and deploy resources based on a data driven approach to crime fighting

The Solution

iSeek Solutions (iSeek), a local Birmingham-based consulting firm, was selected to oversee the goals and objectives of the RTCC project.  iSeek managed the RTCC’s planning, design, execution, technology vendor management, training, and implementation/deployment. Additionally, iSeek assisted the BPD with organizational governance, alignment of people, systems and processes that peripherally related to the RTCC, and made recommendations on organizational governance, structure, and workflow.

iSeek’s role entailed strategic consulting and enterprise project management that included, but was not limited to:

• Research of industry/best of breed Crime Center solutions
• Plan & design customized BPD RTCC solution
• Primary project point of contact (POC)
• Project governance (PM methodology, team organizational structure, process, roles & responsibilities)
• PM playbook administration (tools, templates)
• Stakeholder identification & consistent engagement (internal & external)
• Schedule management & monitoring (phase timelines, tasks, assignees)
• Vendor/Product sourcing, procurement & management
• Communications & reporting (by stakeholder group, executive leadership, etc.)
• Project execution, delivery & implementation
• Facilitate quality assurance testing
• Facilitate training
• Project documentation administration

The Results

With the combined efforts of iSeek’s Enterprise Project Management Group, the Birmingham Police Department’s Technical Lead, and the City’s Capital Projects project manager the Real Time Crime Center went live in October 2021. iSeek successfully partnered with various vendors ranging from technology innovators to construction contractors to propel the evolution of the RTCC.

The Real Time Crime Center utilizes technology and data driven intelligence to aid in prevention of crime and the apprehension of the offenders responsible. The technology provides immediate real time intelligence to responding officers and investigators on high risk calls for service which improves situational awareness and increases officer safety.

Leadership Perspective on the RTCC

Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said,” What we’re trying to do is build a system here for public safety in the future, as in, how will we police Birmingham in the future?” The technology will help immensely at special events like The World Games and boost officer safety. “That’s one of the most important elements – letting people know what you truly have before they get there’’. The Birmingham Police will fight crime with all-seeing live technology.