NYPD Technology Research Paper

996 Words4 Pages

NYPD Technology
Policing in America is anything but standardized. With over 18,000 police agencies from federal, state, and local levels, the United States law enforcement system is one of the most decentralized in the world. The localized nature of our policing has created complexity and tension between governmental bodies due to “…organizational problems in coordinating national security activities, and combating terrorism in particular.” (Waxman, 2008) Combating terrorism is nothing new to American law enforcement: the 1920’s saw bombings in New York City, during the 80’s there were multiple bombings at separate U.S. embassies, the 90’s brought the World Trade Center bombings, the Oklahoma City bombing, and attacks by “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski. …show more content…

(Waxman, 2008) The World Trade Center attacks of 2011 prompted new urgency at the local level and the rapid advancement of technology has reformed the way local authorities fight crime. Creating beneficial resources such as the Real-time Crime Center, Counter-Terrorism Unit, and the Special Operations Center, New York City has pioneered the way for its police department to become a leading force in the war on crime.
New York’s Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) is an information technology hub providing three key elements to record keeping: data warehouse, data analysis, and data wall. Eliminating the need for paper reports and having an all-in-one data center puts invaluable information in the officers’ hands in mere seconds which affords police officers much needed additional time to solve crime. The state-of-art initiative was a multifaceted project initiated by New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly and opened for business in 2005. The system has the capability of sorting through 120 million New York City criminal complaints, arrests, and 911 call records dating back a decade; five million New York criminal records, and more than 31 million nationwide crime records. The technology inside the …show more content…

The unit is comprised of Emergency Services, Harbor, Aviation, and Mounted units. Within these units are the following sub-units: Scuba Team, Canine Team, and Emergency Medical Squad. Special Operations typically assist in dangerous conditions such as accidents, standoff situations, deescalating emotionally disturbed individuals, and search and rescue efforts (land, air, and water) just to name a few. The Special Operations Division is also linked with the RTCC, allowing personnel to be dispatched