Sheriff outlines Real Time Crime Center, camera registry as tools for faster investigations

Sheriff Brian Hill told county commissioners on May 29 that the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office has built a Real Time Crime Center intended to give investigators and patrol officers timely, actionable intelligence drawn from public and private video systems.

"We've continued to do our partnership with all the law enforcement agencies," Hill said, describing the center as a resource used in multiple recent cases. Hill said the project was built largely with nearly $3 million in grant funding and is staffed in partnership with the Topeka Police Department.

Hill and the video shown to the commission listed several incidents where the center supplied video or tracking that led to arrests or the safe recovery of people: locating stolen vehicles, assisting homicide and pursuit investigations, and finding a missing 10-year-old with special needs who was returned unharmed. Hill said the center can also integrate school video feeds to provide immediate situational awareness in critical incidents.

The sheriff announced Connect Shawnee County, a voluntary camera registry that allows residents and businesses to register the location of security cameras so investigators can quickly request footage when crimes occur. "This program does not give us access to your cameras or footage," a video narrator said; instead, the registry tells investigators where to ask for video in a neighborhood.

The district attorney's office, speaking without a name listed in the transcript, told commissioners it strongly supports the Real Time Crime Center and said prosecutors have used center intelligence in homicide investigations. "The ability for our law enforcement partners to identify crimes in progress and respond in real time is really just priceless," the office said, and added plans to use diversion funds to encourage camera hardware purchases in coverage gaps by memorandum of understanding.

Commissioners asked about interagency sharing and staffing; Hill said Topeka Police Department officers help staff the center and detectives can access the system from their desks. He also described planned expansions — more intersections and license-plate-reader (LPR) coverage — and operational capabilities such as remotely viewing officer body-camera feeds and flying drones from the center.

There was no formal vote on the crime-center items during the work session. Sheriff Hill said county IT is completing a virtual-server setup needed for additional camera integrations and the office will continue outreach to schools and businesses to expand participation in the camera registry.