Today, we will be talking about Capital Region Real Time Crime Center in Tallahassee, Florida that was launched in February 2023. The first real time crime center was established by the NYPD in 2005. It was originally designed to operate 24/7 to provide information support to patrol officers and detectives in real time – as they were responding to and investigating events on the street. The concept has evolved over the past 18 years to take advantage of a wide range of technology resources. RTCC’s have been adopted by police agencies across the country. Many of them integrate technology such as cameras, gunshot detectors, license plate readers and analytical software to provide operational information support to field operations.

In a unique partnership Florida State University hosts the Capital Region Real Time Crime Center in which the FSU Police Department, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee PD, Capitol Police and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are working together to provide information and analytical support as they respond to calls and investigate crime in the field. The RTCC includes an in-house learning lab in which students and researchers from FSU’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice can provide immediate analysis of crime trends.

We are fortunate to have with us today Professor Brian Stults from the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University where he has been a faculty member since 2006. He is also the Director of Research and Evaluation for the RTCC. Brian’s research addresses issues of race, crime, and community in urban areas, with a particular focus on residential segregation, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and spatial and temporal patterns of crime.

Also joining us is Leslie Rabon who is the Executive Director of the Capitol Region RTCC. She began her career with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in 2004 when she was hired as the agency's first Intelligence and crime analyst. Leslie has been involved in the development of strategies related to intelligence, data-driven approaches, gang enforcement, prevention, and intervention on a local, state, national, and international level. Mrs. Rabon holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in critical incident management from St. Leo’s University.