California Agency Wants to Use State Grant for DFR and Real-Time Crime Center

The Oceanside (California) Police Department is asking its city council to approve a plan to use a state public safety grant for building a real-time crime center (RCC) and establishing a drone as first responder program.

A grant of $265,000 from the state’s Citizen Option for Public Safety program would cover a 13-month trial of DFR as well as the RCC, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

Lt. Michael Provence presented the proposal for the DFR program and RCC, last week at a meeting of Oceanside’s Police and Fire Commission, which voted unanimously to recommend the Oceanside City Council accept a state grant to fund the project.

The RCC will be a hub for the collection, analysis and dispensation of information from drone video and other sources such as automated license plate readers, stationary video cameras, radio calls, 911 calls and more.

“This is the best way to ensure we are properly using the technology at our disposal,” said Steve Walter, the department’s crime analysis and intelligence manager.

More than a dozen California cities already use DFR, including Chula Vista, which launched the first DFR program in 2018.