Amarillo Police Department Getting Real Time Crime Center

There are a lot of different things that get pushed to Amarillo City Council and the City of Amarillo in general. Different proposals, bills, etc. Most of them never end up seeing the light of day, some get put on the ballot for us to vote on, and some are simply the city voting it in.

Well this one is one of the projects that the City of Amarillo approved on their own, and it's going to benefit the Amarillo Police Department in a lot of ways. In fact, it's going to benefit the entire city.

Get our free mobile app

The city has approved a $5 million renovation project for the Amarillo Police Department building and the project will begin in April. The renovations are targeted to the fourth and fifth floor of the building.

The fourth floor will be renovated to better accommodate what it is used primarily for. A lot of people come to the building for training, applying for jobs, and different non-police jobs. The area isn't overly conducive for that kind of stuff, so the renovations that take place there will allow it to better handle those things.

The fifth floor is where the real action is going to take place, and this is something that benefits both the police department AND everyone in the city.

They will be turning this floor into what will be called the “Real Crime Time Center.” This will allow Amarillo Police to evaluate crimes happening in real time. So how exactly is that going to work and benefit police?

They'll be able to monitor the crime happening to give them a better understanding of how to approach the incident and handle it, while also allowing APD to obtain information before they ever reach the crime scene.

In theory, it should make for safer and more efficient crime scenes. I'm all for this, and happy to see that the city is doing everything it can to provide Amarillo Police with everything they need to keep the city safe.