Santa Rosa police to ramp up surveillance across city as first step to create Real Time Crime Center

Santa Rosa Police Department’s plan to increase public surveillance in the city — potentially through the use of controversial technologies — now has funding.

The agency will use $898,000 in federal funds to purchase gunshot detection sensors, automated license plate readers and more, the first step to create what the agency calls a Real Time Crime Center, Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan said.

It’s an effort to curb violent and gun-related crimes. And while similar programs elsewhere in the nation have had success, others have been criticized for being invasive and inefficient.

The Real Time Crime Center will gather information from surveillance and relay it to police in the field as a means to improve law enforcement response time. It may also promote responding to incidents that would otherwise go unreported.

Cregan said he plans to access other public surveillance cameras, too, such as at shopping centers and possibly residences through “working agreements.” And will allocate funds to bolster the capacity of servers to handle the influx of data.

The center also will be used to observe and analyze specific events related to public safety, such as traffic during evacuations or large-scale events.

The department is still deciding which vendors it will use and where some of the tech will be placed. Though, Cregan said, a potential vendor is ShotSpotter, now named SoundThinking, which has been criticized because of its inaccuracy and misuse.

Flock Safety, through which the county already acquired some automated license plate readers, is another possibility.

The city of Santa Rosa received the funding in early March after Congress’ approval of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill, which included the city’s request for the money, according to a city news release.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, chose the project as one of 15 to receive federal funding within his district. He said he worked on acquiring the funding with Cregan, Santa Rosa City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, Mayor Natalie Rogers and then-Vice Mayor Dianna MacDonald.

Cregan and the other city officials first met with Thompson about the project last year during a city trip to Washington, D.C. In that meeting, Cregan said he discussed the uptick in gun violence and asked for Thompson’s help.

Santa Rosa police seized 251 illegal guns in 2022 and 255 illegal guns in 2023, Cregan told The Press Democrat. A total of 99 of those firearms were ghost guns.

That’s about 100 more guns each year than pre-pandemic levels. Police seized 137 guns in 2019 and 170 guns — 44 of which were ghost guns — in 2021.

Cregan has implemented separate efforts at curbing violent crimes, such as reactivating the gang crimes team in December and increasing “proactive policing.” He said those efforts have contributed to police obtaining more illegal firearms.

As the number of guns seized has increased, the number of shootings has decreased, said Sgt. Patricia Seffens, department spokesperson.

Police confiscated 146 illegal firearms, 22 of which were ghost guns, from Jan. 1 to March 27. In that time, shooting calls decreased 62%, Cregan said.

From 2021 to 2023, shootings decreased from 106 to 51. In 2023, fewer firearms were used in other cases, such as aggravated assault and battery than in 2022.

“Though the numbers are trending down, the fact that there are that many illegally possessed firearms still out there is alarming, and if not for the enforcement efforts of the officers and problem-oriented policing strategies such as the RTCC, those numbers would sure be swinging the other way,” Seffens said.

The funding for the Real Time Crime Center is to build on the work done in these other initiatives, Cregan said.

“It’s about getting there more quickly, locating offenders who are fleeing the scenes, getting that offender of the street and then getting that firearm which was used in a crime off the street,” he said.

City Council member Jeff Okrepkie, who is also chair of the city’s public safety subcommittee, said he is optimistic that the center can bolster police efficiency and effectiveness.

“One of the key benefits of the RTCC is its ability to provide our police officers with immediate access to critical information, which can significantly improve their response times to incidents,” he said in an email. “By having a centralized hub for data and intelligence, we can ensure that our officers are better informed and equipped to handle situations as they arise, ultimately leading to a safer community.”

In 2023, Santa Rosa police’s average response time to priority calls was six minutes and 57 seconds, Cregan said.

“Frankly, this response time it too long for someone who dialed 911 and is waiting for emergency assistance,” he said. “We have to improve our response times, and the RTCC is a tool to help use improve our response.”

Cregan said he aspires to incorporate additional technology, like programs that identify threats made on social media by searching for key words or phrases, and to have dispatchers dedicated specifically to the crime center.

That will eventually require more funding.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.