The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a $4.2 million federal grant to help fund the police department’s Real Time Crime Center.
“I just wanted to thank our federal partners, specifically Senator (Katie) Britt, for helping the city get this,” said Councilor Hunter Williams. “When we look at the amount of grants that the city of Birmingham has gotten over the past several years, I think it speaks to the partnership among the 10 of us and that we are working with our federal partners. It’s something that’s different that we have not seen in the city of Birmingham probably in our lifetime. … We’ve really been able to multiply the money we’ve gotten from the federal government.”
The council and mayor visited with Britt and Rep. Terri Sewell at the Capitol earlier this month.
The city’s Real Time Crime Center opened in October 2021 and serves as a technological hub for the police department. Through software costing $1.3 million over five years, the center can use real-time surveillance footage from a network of public cameras as well as private cameras that have been linked to the system through the approval of owners. The center also deploys technology such as ShotSpotter and analytics software that can predict crime patterns.
On the second anniversary of the center opening, police officials said the technology helped solve more than 1,000 cases.
This year the council approved an agreement with the Birmingham Board of Education to share video of public areas of schools such as lobbies, building exteriors and athletic facilities. The council also recently approved three mobile camera units that can be deployed to hotspots throughout the city.
The money for the grant comes from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Byrne Discretionary program. According to the bureau’s website, the grant program “aims to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, prevent or combat juvenile delinquency, and assist victims of crime (other than compensation).”
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant is named in honor of a New York City police officer killed in the line of duty in 1988. Byrne was in his patrol car guarding the home of a witness when two gunmen opened fire, hitting him five times in the head. According to a Department of Justice release, the killing took place on the orders of a local drug kingpin. The two shooters and their two lookouts were captured six days after the shooting. All were sentenced to 25 years to life.
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