Gwinnett city upgrades real-time crime center to catch criminals faster

DULUTH, Ga. — A Gwinnett County city is making major upgrades to its police real-time crime center to help find criminals faster.

Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson got an inside look at the Duluth police facility they want to be a model for others.

The city’s state-of-the-art crime center features nearly 400 cameras across the city. They say having the room can be the difference between solving a crime and that case going cold.

“Without these analysts and without these cameras,...those crimes would probably be unsolved,” Cpl. Ted Sadowski said.

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The crime center first launched seven years ago.

“It was really just one table, one projector and volunteer,” Sadowski described.

Sadowski says the city’s network of cameras and technology could be a model for a lot of metro Atlanta police departments.

“We have definitely had a lot of other jurisdictions reach out to us to look at our room as an example,” he said.

It’s not just the monitors and cameras that help Duluth police keep tabs on what is happening.

They have a team of four analysts who can let officers know what a scene looks like before they arrive.

“Having these full-time and part-time analysts that we have has really been instrumental in solving these crimes,” Sadowski said.

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The Duluth City Council approved $380,000 last year to pay for upgrades to the crime center. Those funds helped bring in LCD monitors and enough staff to keep the center up and running.

He says the upgrades are already paying off.

“It’s definitely increased morale just because we’re able to solve crimes more efficiently and quickly,” he said.

Police say they will be reaching out to community members in the coming days to talk more about linking their community surveillance cameras with the elaborate system.

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