In response to persistent violence and firearm-related crime throughout Leon County, FL, three local law enforcement agencies—the Leon County Sheriff's Office, Tallahassee Police Department, and Florida State University Police Department—operate the Capital Region Real Time Crime Center (CRRTCC), a county-wide, multi-agency RTCC. A primary goal of the CRRTCC is to improve communication and coordination among law enforcement agencies in Leon County, allowing them to work together on active investigations—live and in real-time—to solve crimes within minutes or hours rather than days or weeks.
The College of Criminology and Criminal Justice serves as the research arm of the CRRTCC and conducts ongoing process and outcome evaluations, regular surveys of local law enforcement personnel, surveys of community members, interviews with agency stakeholders, literature reviews, and peer-reviewed publications. The evaluations provide assessments of (1) tasks completed by the CRRTCC analysts, (2) crime reduction and improvements to public safety, (3) enhanced efficiency of law enforcement efforts, and (4) law enforcement and community perceptions of the CRRTCC.
In 2022, as part of the support for the continuous evaluation of the CRRTCC, FSU received a three-year grant from the United States Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Smart Policing Initiative, titled “Addressing Violence and Gun Crime in Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida Through the Multi-Agency Capital Region Real Time Crime Center.” This grant addresses gaps in the literature and provides recommendations for evidence-informed policies and practices that the CRRTCC and real time crime centers across the United States can employ. The project's first phase includes analyses of crime rates, officer safety, response times, and case closures. The project's second phase includes a survey of law enforcement staff from each participating agency about their use of the CRRTCC and perceptions of the use of technology by law enforcement. The project's third phase includes a random survey of Leon County, Florida residents to gauge attitudes about topics directly relevant to the CRRTCC, including fear of crime and risk of victimization, satisfaction with the police, police legitimacy, and attitudes toward the use of technology in law enforcement.
CONTACTS
Faculty: Thomas G. Blomberg, Julie Brancale, Young-An Kim, and Brian Stults.
Graduate Students: Alex Billmeier and Jonathan Caswell
Research Partners: Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida State University Police Department, Leon County Sheriff's Office, and the Tallahassee Police Department.
