NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — 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.
Transforming City Hall’s Former Evidence Room
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.
Enhancing Camera Monitoring and Coordination
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.
Improving Response Times and Proactive Policing
Officials say the goal is to improve response times and provide officers with critical information before they arrive at a scene.
“If we have a major critical event happening, we can pull up cameras, give information to officers responding to that location,” Sgt. Jerrid Riley, an officer in the department’s detective bureau, says. “Say there’s an incident going on and there’s traffic on the interstate. We’re able to pull up the traffic cameras and say, ‘Hey, let’s stay off the interstate. Go this route that way, you can make it there a little bit faster.’ Proactive policing isn’t new. It’s just we’re giving more information to the officers to help them be a little bit more proactive and safer.”
Real-Time Monitoring and Information Sharing
Riley says the technology allows analysts to monitor incidents in real time and provide updated information to officers responding to a call.
“It makes us not such a reactive police force,” Riley says. “It 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.”
Future Growth and Capabilities
He adds that the department expects the system’s role to grow once it is fully implemented.
“The capabilities are, I believe, going to be endless,” Riley says. “Once we start using it a little bit more and get it fully operational, we’ll be able to assess that and help out even more.”
Assisting in Investigations and Enhancing Safety
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.
Addressing Privacy Concerns
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.
“We’re not monitoring 24/7. We’re not surveying you guys,” Riley says. “We bring it up when incidents are occurring, and it’s 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.”
Expected Timeline for Full Operation
City leaders expect to begin moving into the new center in March, but officials say the full process will take time.
“It’s 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’s set up and then the training and staffing as well,” Riley says.
Learning from Other Cities
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’s Real-Time Crime Center, which officials say closely mirrors the model under development in North Charleston.
Full Operational Status by Year-End
The department expects the Joint Operations Center to be fully operational by the end of the year.
