{"id":104312,"date":"2026-02-27T07:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/896087652"},"modified":"2026-02-27T07:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:15:19","slug":"high-tech-hub-aims-to-put-north-charleston-police-department-one-step-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/high-tech-hub-aims-to-put-north-charleston-police-department-one-step-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"High-tech hub aims to put North Charleston Police Department one step ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) \u2014 The North Charleston Police Department is preparing to move into its new Joint Operations Center, a centralized hub designed to bring camera monitoring, dispatch and crime analysts together under one roof.<\/p>\n

The department is transforming its former evidence room inside City Hall into what officials describe as a high-tech command center. Leaders say the move marks a major step forward after years of planning.<\/p>\n

More than 700 cameras are already installed across North Charleston along major roadways, intersections and public spaces. Currently, those feeds are monitored in separate, temporary locations. Once the Joint Operations Center is in service, police say all monitoring and coordination will take place in a single space.<\/p>\n

Officials say the goal is to improve response times and provide officers with critical information before they arrive at a scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have a major critical event happening, we can pull up cameras, give information to officers responding to that location,\u201d Sgt. Jerrid Riley, an officer in the department\u2019s detective bureau, says. \u201cSay there\u2019s an incident going on and there\u2019s traffic on the interstate. We\u2019re able to pull up the traffic cameras and say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s stay off the interstate. Go this route that way, you can make it there a little bit faster.\u2019 Proactive policing isn\u2019t new. It\u2019s just we\u2019re giving more information to the officers to help them be a little bit more proactive and safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley says the technology allows analysts to monitor incidents in real time and provide updated information to officers responding to a call.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes us not such a reactive police force,\u201d Riley says. \u201cIt allows us to monitor in real time and we are reacting and just giving updated information to officers responding to the scene. So, if we do have a vehicle that someone described to us and we do see it on a camera, our analysts are able to put it out to the officers and they can look in that area for that vehicle. It puts us one step ahead in some instances.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that the department expects the system\u2019s role to grow once it is fully implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe capabilities are, I believe, going to be endless,\u201d Riley says. \u201cOnce we start using it a little bit more and get it fully operational, we\u2019ll be able to assess that and help out even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a call for service comes in, analysts can access live or recorded footage from nearby cameras to help generate suspect descriptions, track vehicles, investigate crashes or assist in locating missing people. The system also includes facial matching technology to help investigators identify individuals more quickly.<\/p>\n

The project first received approval in 2022 and initially drew pushback from some residents concerned about privacy and surveillance. Riley says the cameras are not monitored continuously and are only accessed when an incident is reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not monitoring 24\/7. We\u2019re not surveying you guys,\u201d Riley says. \u201cWe bring it up when incidents are occurring, and it\u2019s just to allow officers to get there and more information to that officer to bring safety to the individuals that might be involved in the incident, but also to the safety of the officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

City leaders expect to begin moving into the new center in March, but officials say the full process will take time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s looking about six to eight months for the buildout of this process, which is building the room up, making sure everything fits, bringing in the technology, making sure everything\u2019s set up and then the training and staffing as well,\u201d Riley says.<\/p>\n

The transition comes just over a week after Mayor Reggie Burgess, members of North Charleston City Council and police leadership traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to tour that city\u2019s Real Time Crime Center, which officials say closely mirrors the model under development in North Charleston.<\/p>\n

The department expects the Joint Operations Center to be fully operational by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WCSC. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n

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… officials describe as a high-tech<\/span> command center. Leaders say … safer.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Riley says the technology<\/span> allows analysts to monitor … also includes facial matching technology<\/span> to help investigators identify … fits, bringing in the technology<\/span>, making sure everything\u00e2\u0080\u0099s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}