Sky Cop is now up and running in Toledo.
It's the city-wide video surveillance system that Police Chief Derrick Diggs believes will help cut down on crime.
13abc's Christine Long has been following this $1.6 million project from the very beginning.
She has the first look at the Real Time Crime Center on the third floor of the Public Safety Building downtown.
Officers inside the safety building monitor the video streaming in live from 40 cameras at 20 intersections.
Chief Diggs calls this only the tip of the iceberg in the new high tech era for his department.
Huron and LaGrange is one of 20 high crime intersections in Toledo equipped with two Sky Cop cameras, or hunters in the sky.
"I'm scared to walk to the store honestly over here so this is a very good idea," says Skyler Grays who lives in that neighborhood.
The video from those cameras are being monitored live by police officers inside the brand new Real Time Crime Center.
It's the key part of the criminal intelligence division's Orion Project.
"The police department has made a major commitment in the area of video surveillance," says Chief Diggs. "This piece of the overall data-driven strategy will not only help us solve crimes but also make areas safer where these cameras are deployed."
It is not being staffed 24-7 yet, but officers can zoom in and zoom out, as well as rotate the cameras 360 degrees.
The cameras are also equipped with infrared technology for night vision.
"We are still in the process of hiring police officers and bringing more police officers on," says Mayor Mike Bell. "We know we still have to have the personnel power on the street, but this also helps with the particular task that they have of being able to protect people."
Back in April, 13 ABC traveled to Memphis for an exclusive look at the Sky Cop system that as been in operation there for six years.
In that time, overall crime in Memphis has dropped nearly 30 percent. The murder rate is at a three decade low. Those cameras help Memphis police officers make an average of 100 arrests a year.
While no arrests have yet been made with the help of the new system in Toledo, Chief Diggs hopes to mimic Memphis' success with Sky Cop.
"I have very high expectations for results," says Chief Diggs.
TPD also has two mobile units that can be moved around and used for big events like the Fourth of July Fireworks.
This is the first phase of Sky Cop. There are another 42 cameras here that haven't been installed yet, as well as seven gun shot detectors.
Up to 160 cameras will be deployed across the city when the project is complete.
The following intersections in Toledo have active SkyCop cameras installed:
- Jefferson & Huron
- Washington & Huron
- Adams & 17th
- Walnut & Michigan
- Locust & Ontario
- Lagrange & Huron
- Lagrange & Sherman
- Lagrange & Mettler
- Mulberry & Page
- Bancroft & Ashland
- Bancroft & Franklin
- Lawrence & Delaware
- Detroit & Monroe
- Dorr & Hoag
- 1240 Collingwood
- Earl & Butler
- Earl & Rogers
- Bancroft & Kent
- Starr & Steadman
- Navarre & Oak
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