Efforts to build a real time crime center at Meridian Police Department have the potential to add significant value to crime fighting efforts in the Queen City if all goes according to plan.

The project, which has been ongoing for more than a year, took another step forward this week after the Meridian City Council passed an order hiring an architect to design the space.

The real time crime center, as billed, will combine modern technology with law enforcement best practices to help prevent, investigate and solve crimes in the Queen City. MPD plans to use a cloud-based software that will interface with the E-911 system, allow for live-streaming surveillance footage to officers’ vehicles and phones, incorporate security systems volunteered by local residents and business owners and more.

Initially starting with 43 cameras, the center is being designed to accommodate up to 200 cameras without any major upgrades or overhauls and, if successful, should be an effective crime fighting tool for years to come.

The system can also incorporate specialty cameras equipped with license plate readers, which send alerts to law enforcement when a flagged plate is spotted, gunshot detection software and other tools that can help the department identify and respond to crime.

All of that data will feed into the real time crime center, which will be monitored around the clock, and relevant information will be passed on to responding officers, gathered as evidence or both.

A real time crime center is not an idea unique to Meridian, and MPD has drawn upon existing systems in Jackson, Columbus and Natchez for inspiration, among others. Such technology is common enough Meridian’s system is likely to be more catching up than cutting edge.

MPD, as with many other law enforcement agencies, has had its fair share of worries over the past few years. A nationwide shortage of people seeking to become police officers has made hiring exceptionally difficult, especially for smaller departments that can’t match the salaries offered by larger cities. The end of lockdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a drastic increase in violent crime throughout the country, and while data show crime has largely returned to normal, the unease brought by the violence has yet to subside.

Building a real time crime center, outfitting it with the necessary equipment, installing cameras throughout the city and hiring staff to monitor the system add up to put the cost of the project at more than $1 million, but the data, video evidence and investigatory powers such a system will add to MPD’s arsenal is well worth the price.

Furthermore, the knowledge that someone is keeping watch, for both law abiding citizens and would-be criminals, helps combat the perception that Meridian is more dangerous than it actually is. That alone is priceless.