Kent County Sheriff's Office demos Kent Safety Network to Cascade Township board

Cascade Township board members heard a presentation on the Kent Safety Network from representatives of the Kent County Sheriff's Office, who described a countywide platform that pulls together cameras, body cameras, license-plate readers and school radios to give dispatchers and deputies a single, real-time view during emergencies.

"This is really about modernizing uh emergency response to um to incidents," said a sheriff's office presenter, who described the program's origin in leftover ARPA grant funds used to install a police radio in every school and then to expand to video integration. The system, the presenters said, combines existing feeds into a single interface (the Fus platform) and is built to be user-controlled, auditable and countywide in scope.

The presenters said the platform allows operators to click camera icons to view live streams, display floor plans to guide officers inside unfamiliar facilities and send pictures directly to officers' devices so they arrive with verified intelligence rather than only a caller's description. They said businesses can join at no cost for a basic option, residents cannot be viewed via private home systems ("Nest cameras, Ring cameras, that's not a part of the system for the live streaming"), and homeowners can register cameras to be contacted if law enforcement needs footage after an incident.

On privacy and accountability, the sheriff's team stressed the audit trail: every click is logged by user, IP address, camera viewed and time spent, and that log can be provided to partners who request it. The presenters said the system has been reviewed by education and medical IT teams and includes controls to restrict access to interior school cameras absent an active emergency.

The presentation included the department's Drone First Responder (DFR) program. Presenters said two drone docks are installed now with four more arriving; drones average up to about 30 minutes of flight time and top speeds near 40 mph, and in several responses to Q&A they said drones often establish a "virtual on-scene time" before ground units arrive. An example was given of a recent domestic-violence call in which a drone located a hiding suspect who later surrendered.

Board members asked who monitors the system; presenters described a multi-faceted approach: dispatch and deputies in cruisers have system access, and the county operates a real-time intelligence center that currently is not yet fully 24/7 but is intended to expand. The sheriff's office said other Kent County agencies are on a steering committee and that agency onboarding is planned through 2026.

The sheriff's office invited board members to tour the real-time intelligence center and noted that the DDA may help sponsor cameras for businesses in commercial corridors. The presentation concluded with an offer to provide log records to any business partner that requests them and an encouragement to participate if the community wants the additional capability.