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CRA to fund police 'force multiplier' tech: drones, AI analytics and a real-time operations center
Summary
West Palm Beach police and CRA staff outlined a package of community-policing investments funded in FY27, including tactical indoor drones for SWAT/bomb techs, AI video analytics (BriefCam), Peregrine investigative analytics and added Axon storage/transcription to make video searchable.
West Palm Beach police and CRA officials presented a substantial community-policing and technology package that the CRA plans to fund more fully in fiscal year 2026–27. Paul Allen, the West Palm Beach Police Department’s Homeland Security Manager, framed the purchases within a three-part technology framework—data management, operations and investigative/intelligence—and said the tools are intended to act as "force multipliers" for officers.
Allen detailed individual acquisitions: a tactical indoor drone for bomb technicians and SWAT to gather critical information during high-stress incidents; upgraded CCTV cameras with AI analytics provided by BriefCam to speed video review and generate heat maps; a real-time operations center with a drone operations room, command-and-coordination space and enhancements to the real-time crime center; and investigative analytics from Peregrine to connect and analyze disparate investigative databases. Allen also said the department will expand Axon cloud storage and transcribe historical video to text so footage becomes searchable.
Carlos Rodriguez, the CRA’s security manager, and Major Laurie Columbino with the police department described operational complements to the technology—portable CCTV trailers, increased e-bike and street-crime units, and partnerships with private security contractors—to target crime prevention through environmental design and greater situational awareness. Rodriguez emphasized that the CRA does not perform law-enforcement functions but supports coordinated public-safety investments, while Columbino supplied unit-level statistics to show the scope of current activities and contacts handled by specialized teams.
Board members pressed staff on how calls-for-service are classified and how unit workloads are compared; Columbino explained that some proactive patrols generate field-interview cards rather than full police reports. The presentation was intended to justify about $800,000 in CRA funding earmarked in the draft budget for policing innovations in the Northwood and downtown CRA districts.
