Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC)

A Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) is a specialized public safety unit that brings together criminal information and intelligence, analytical capabilities, technology, and personnel to help law enforcement agencies respond to incidents and support investigations more effectively. RTCCs can bring together information from sources such as computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management systems, video surveillance, automated license plate readers, gunshot detection systems, mapping tools, and other authorized data sources. Analysts and other RTCC personnel use these resources to develop situational awareness, identify relevant information, and communicate actionable intelligence to officers, investigators, dispatchers, supervisors, and other authorized public safety partners. The U.S. Department of Justice describes RTCCs as centralized hubs for criminal information and intelligence analysis that can support activities including focused policing, real-time monitoring, and investigations.

An RTCC operates by integrating people, processes, communications, and technology so information from multiple systems can be analyzed and shared as events unfold. Depending on an agency's mission and capabilities, key features may include live video monitoring, geospatial information, access to law enforcement databases, incident and records data, analytical tools, and communications platforms that connect RTCC personnel with responders in the field. Key constituents can include RTCC analysts and operators, sworn officers, investigators, dispatch personnel, command staff, IT and cybersecurity teams, and authorized partner agencies. As agencies pursue Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) modernization, communications and interoperability improvements can expand the ability to use information across locations and systems. That connectivity increases the importance of cybersecurity enhancements that help secure access to critical systems, and strong access security for departments using RTCC resources.

Those security considerations are particularly important when an RTCC stores, processes, transmits, or provides access to Criminal Justice Information (CJI). The FBI CJIS Security Policy establishes security requirements for protecting CJI and systems that process, store, or transmit it, including requirements related to access control, identification and authentication, auditing, system security, and other safeguards. Identity and access management helps agencies control who is authorized to access particular systems and information. The CJIS Security Policy requires multifactor authentication (MFA) for access to both privileged and non-privileged organizational accounts to help verify the person requesting access is who they claim to be.

Identity security for confidential data and identity verification for confidential or proprietary resources are crucial to protect sensitive information, not only within the physical RTCC, but wherever authorized personnel work. Mobile and remote access security is especially relevant when officers, investigators, or other personnel need to access systems from patrol vehicles, mobile devices, remote facilities, or networks outside the RTCC. CJIS guidance specifically requires agencies to uniquely identify and authenticate organizational users before granting access and establishes additional controls for protecting CJI and systems that process, store, or transmit it.

Effective RTCC modernization consequently requires agencies to consider not only what information they can aggregate, but also how they control access to it. Imprivata State and Local Government solutions can help public safety organizations strengthen identity and access management, implement secure and efficient authentication, control access to critical applications and data, and support workflows aligned with applicable CJIS Security Policy requirements. These capabilities can help agencies authenticate digital identities and provide appropriate access to confidential or proprietary resources, files, databases, and other critical systems, whether personnel are working at an RTCC workstation or accessing authorized resources on the go.