People in Palm Beach have a new way to play a role in helping police solve and prevent crimes.
Residents, business owners and property managers can sign up to grant permission to the Palm Beach Police Department to access their security cameras in an emergency or during an investigation through the town’s Community Connect Program, officials said. The department is encouraging people to sign up.
The connection is possible thanks to the department’s use of Flock Safety’s AI-enabled Flock OS, advanced technology that is used in the Real Time Crime Center at the Palm Beach Police Department on South County Road, said police spokesman Sgt. Michael Ogrodnick.
Flock OS lets Palm Beach Police use the latest strategies and technology available to law enforcement agencies, he said during an Oct. 28 news conference.
“We know that criminals do not stay within jurisdictional boundaries, and the nature of police work requires collaborative efforts,” Ogrodnick said. “That’s why, within the RTCC, we are also collaborating with local community partners, nearby agencies, and closing silos between disconnected data and making everyone safer.”
The Real Time Crime Center launched at the Palm Beach Police Department earlier this year, toward the end of the town’s busy social season. This will mark its first season completely online, officials have said.
A detective staffs the center around-the-clock and monitors live camera feeds from around the island, while also using AI tools to follow up on leads for investigations. The center has a desk surrounded by monitors that provide constant views of Palm Beach and the ability to pull up any camera at any time, whether a detective needs to watch a stationary camera, or an officer’s vehicle or body-worn camera, Ogrodnick said.
People who would like to register their security cameras with the Palm Beach Police Department can go to refer.flocksafety.com/community/palmbeach-community-connect. For more information, call the Palm Beach Police non-emergency number at 561-838-5454.
Center will boost police capabilities during season
The many island eyes of the Real Time Crime Center will provide Palm Beach Police with a new perspective in dealing with traffic congestion during season, Detective Daniel Meblin said.
As he demonstrated the center’s capabilities, Meblin said police will be able to monitor traffic conditions using the town’s cameras and, when needed, an aerial drone.
“As we’re monitoring that, we can let our officers on the road know that this specific intersection, there’s high congestion going on over there.” Meblin said. “We would move units over there to the intersection to help clear the intersection up, direct traffic, get traffic flowing, get people off the island safely without any issues.
The center also can be a benefit in emergencies when police need to coordinate with Palm Beach Fire-Rescue crews, he said.
“If we have a situation going on where we need Fire-Rescue to respond and we see it live on camera,” Meblin said, “we can let our communications department know that, ‘In this specific area, there’s a person in need who needs medical attention. Can you direct Fire-Rescue to respond?'”
As soon as Fire-Rescue responds, police will respond with them, he said. “We work collectively as a team,” Meblin said.
Police & Fire Foundation donated $1.2 million for center
The Real Time Crime Center was made possible in large part thanks to a total of $1.2 million in donations from the Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation, he said.
“Your kindness and commitment to the safety and residents of the town of Palm Beach is truly inspiring,” Ogrodnick said to Rebecca Godwin, the foundation’s president, and Tim Moran, co-founder of the Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation.
The foundation has been honored to provide the donations that helped to build the Real Time Crime Center at the Palm Beach Police Department, Godwin said.
Foundation representatives worked with the department for the past 18 months to identify what investigators needed, she said. The $1.2 million is coming to the department in phases, with about half used so far, and an additional expansion on top of that worth $120,000 that will come through in January, Godwin said.
“We’re really excited,” she said. “Our whole board and our donor base is really behind this, and we’re honored to be able to partner with the Palm Beach Police Department.”
Police cite early success
During the news conference, Ogrodnick highlighted three cases from the past year where the Real Time Crime Center and Flock OS helped Palm Beach investigators.
The first was a case from April where a person caused more than $7,000 worth of damage to a fence and security camera at the town’s marina, he said.
Detectives used Flock OS to trace the person’s steps that night, Ogrodnick said.
“Detectives were about to determine where and when the subject had dinner, what ride share service the subject used from the restaurant to the town marina,” he said. Investigators then identified the person by using additional video footage from the restaurant, the receipt from the restaurant, video footage from the marina and information provided by the ride share service, Ogrodnick said.
The person paid the town to replace and repair the fence and camera at the marina, he said.
The next incident happened in March, when a jeweler on Worth Avenue hired a ride share service to deliver a Rolex watch valued at $40,000 to a repair shop, Ogrodnick said. Instead of taking the watch to be repaired, the man behind the wheel of the vehicle — who was not the person registered as a driver with the ride share service — took the pricey Rolex home, court records show.
Detectives used Flock OS and the town’s network of license-plate reading cameras to find the driver, vehicle and ride share service, he said. The camera system and Flock OS helped investigators track where and when the person charged with stealing the watch went after leaving Worth Avenue with the Rolex, Ogrodnick said.
Police arrested the man in June on charges of grand theft and unlawful use of a two-way communications device, according to court records. The man pleaded not guilty and was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on a $40,000 bond as he awaits trial, court records show.
The third case involved a report of about 36 pounds of scrap copper stolen from a construction site on the island, Ogrodnick said. The detective on case used Flock OS, the town’s license-plate reading cameras and other camera footage from a West Palm Beach scrap yard to identify the vehicle used by the person believed to have stolen the copper, he said, adding that the person was arrested in early August.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Police roll out program to connect to security cameras, seek participants
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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