CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday officially opened the Los Angeles Police Department’s new, high-tech crime analysis center.
The LAPD unit is housed in the same new building as the city’s $107-million Emergency Operations Center, the nerve center where officials will coordinate the city’s response to major earthquakes, wildfires, acts of terrorism and other potential disasters and public safety threats.
Officers and detectives in the LAPD’s new Real-Time Analysis and Critical Response Division will sift through a collection of data -- 911 calls, the location of GPS-monitored parolees and up-to-the-minute developments at crime scenes -- to assist with investigations, suspect information and geographic profiling.
Detectives will have access to LAPD and Department of Transportation video cameras, the ability to use facial-recognition software to track down suspects, and software to pinpoint and decipher vehicle license plates on the video feeds.
-- Phil Willon
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