Enhancing Public Safety: Hallandale Beach Police Department Make Substantial Investments In Technology

These initiatives, which are also aimed at improving the comfort level of police officers and solidifying the commitment to their own safety, have had the added impact of increased staffing and fewer vacancies.

“About two and a half years ago we were down 22 officers and I’m proud to say that as of this week we have just five vacancies.” said Hallandale Beach Mayor, Joy Cooper. “This speaks volumes about the commitment we have in public safety, and we need to continue on that trend.”

As one of the first to implement body-worn cameras years ago, the city is continuing their efforts to remain at the forefront of innovative technology for law enforcement by reinvesting in the next generation of the tool.

“These new body-worn cameras will have the ability to turn on if a police officer pulls their gun or taser within a 35-mile radius so they don’t have to worry about pressing the camera and they can just engage and address the threat.” explained Hallandale Beach Deputy Police Chief, Terrence Thouez.

As violent crime has increased nationwide, investment focus remains in technology that improves criminal activity detection, response time, and de-escalation training. These investments include ShotSpotter, license plate readers (LPRs), drones, and CCTV cameras, as well as crime analyst software, which helps manage resources utilizing data that finds where and when crime is occurring.

“The ShotSpotter software identifies, within feet, where a gunshot goes off and alerts police within 60 seconds,” added Thouez. “This technology has made a significant impact not only for us to be able to identify where violent crime is occurring but also, so people understand that when someone shoots off a weapon, police are coming right away.”

The addition of 49 new CCTV cameras in high crime areas around the city, 17 new license plate readers capturing vehicle tags coming in and out of the city, three drones with 7 FAA rated operators, and new laptops for all officers, in conjunction with other efforts such as increased community policing, are intended to provide officers with as much information and accuracy as possible in real time for faster response times and enhanced safety for residents and law enforcement personnel alike.

“The overall picture to all this technology is to eventually connect ourselves with what’s called the real time crime center,” concluded Thouez. “We can bring together all of our data points from license plate readers, from camera footage, from the drone footage, from the shot spotter technology, from the crime data that we have collected in real time for faster response to ongoing crime.”

For more information on the City’s Public Safety Initiatives, visit www.coHB.org/PublicSafety

About the City of Hallandale Beach
The City of Hallandale Beach is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of the community in a fiscally responsible manner by providing superior services that meet the needs of our community as well as plan for their future needs through continued communication.