Emerging technology ecosystem is an SPD 'game changer'

Smart glasses that allow the wearer to read criminal records and translate dozens of languages in real time, first responder drones and robotic “dogs” are part of the future of law enforcement in Sarasota.

With that technology integrated into an emerging operations center that allows officers in the field and technicians on computers to collaborate to solve crimes in real time, the future is now.

Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche explained to members of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce how the SPD is implementing its new and still developing Real-Time Operations Center, which provides live safety and investigative support to officers in the field, and how future technology acquisitions will enhance the department’s crime-fighting capabilities.

“This is the ROC,” Troche said during the chamber's Sept. 23 State of the Community luncheon, where he appeared alongside Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman. 

While just a few months ago the Real-Time Operations Center, located in a former community room at SPD headquarters, was “MacGyvered” with computers and multiple monitors on four workstations arranged in a circle, the now mostly complete build out includes new rows of desks facing a video wall where technicians can monitor much of the city via intersection cameras, license plate readers, gunshot monitors and even private security cameras when provided permission. 

The ROC currently staffs four technicians and operates five days a week. Troche wants to add personnel and increase the ROC operations to seven days a week. 

“Now our Real-Time Operations Center looks like something out of NORAD,” Troche said of the contrast to its humble beginnings. “It looks like a Jason Bourne movie, and we're only limited at this point by our imagination.”

Photo by Andrew Warfield

Troche’s imagination is vivid. He spoke of drones serving as first responders to a 911 call, able to reach anywhere in the city within three-and-a-half minutes. They can assess a situation of scene from above, locate heat signatures that could indicate a danger to officers, and actually make first contact with an offender to de-escalate a situation prior to live asset arrival. 

“That way we have more time and distance to make better decisions, and hopefully the operator can have that subject come out and we can put them in custody safely,” Troche said. 

Meanwhile, back at the ROC, such a situation is monitored by technicians relaying real-time information to officers arriving at or already on the scene.

“That is a game-changer for law enforcement,” he said.

Spot and Sparkles

That’s just the beginning of what Troche has planned for his law enforcement agency of the 21st century. With license plate readers already in place throughout the city, the SPD can capture the locations of offenders and other persons of interest as they enter and while inside the city’s “dome.” 

“We can tell if it's a stolen vehicle, if it's a wanted subject, if it's somebody related to a firearm, if it's a Silver Alert or an Amber Alert,” Troche said. “It automatically goes into the Real-Time Operations Center, and the officers in their cars get alerts immediately.” 

The SPD’s network of cameras provides on-demand live feeds of gathering locations in downtown, the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and more. 

Coming perhaps as early as next fiscal year is a robot dog named Spot, built by Boston Dynamics. It is equipped with 16 cameras and the ability to detect the presence of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials. It can walk up stairs, open doors and, in potentially dangerous situations, allow officers to communicate directly with subjects. All of its activity can be fed live into the ROC and communicated to officers on the ground or en route.

A colorful, friendly outfit can be cloaked over the mechanical mutt to more resemble a friendly pooch for use in community outreach activities.

“I’m all about squeezing the sponge,” Troche said of the diverse uses.

With a base price of $248,000, Troche said SPD is “close to getting one.”

What he already has, and was wearing at the luncheon, is a pair of smart glasses — a heads-up display that allows him to read emails, text messages, answer phone calls and instantly translate 45 languages displayed in text. The wearer can ask a question aloud and the device will conduct a Google search displayed in one lens.

It can even load up a speech and scroll as Troche talks.

“I'm testing these because eventually I want to be able to have officers get an ID at a traffic stop, scan it on their body-worn camera and they get all the information in real time,” Troche said. “We know that when officers go back to the car, that's when things get silly. Bad guys start thinking of ways to get out of there.”

All of this technology will eventually be coordinated through a built-out ROC.

“What's the future bringing us?” Troche concluded. “I hope that you're excited about it because what it's bringing us is a safer community to live in, a smarter community to live in.”