They’ve seen policing from both ends of a radio. They’ve pursued suspects on foot and tracked them by drone. They’ve stood in the middle of chaotic scenes and sat behind glowing monitors, watching them unfold in real time.
Chris Henningsen still remembers when a patrol officer would arrive on scene and make decisions based on what little they could piece together from a phone call that happened minutes — or sometimes hours — before. Now, he can pinpoint a suspect’s direction of travel before the first officer even arrives.
“Real-time video is a complete game-changer,” said Henningsen, who began his law enforcement career with the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Police Department in 2005 and now serves as the agency’s real time crime center (RTCC) supervisor. He’s also the national conference director and Southwest region director for the National Real Time Crime Center Association (NRTCCA).
Jared Kosina used to be that officer on the road. He started with the Phoenix (Ariz.) Police Department in 2011, later transferring to Salt River Police Department — a tribal agency nestled within Scottsdale’s borders. When his department needed someone to build their RTCC, they turned to Kosina, whose engineering background and frontline experience made him a natural fit. Today, he’s the NRTCCA’s vice president of training and development and a full-time detective inside the RTCC he built from scratch.
“Incredible,” Kosina said. “That’s really the only word for real-time video.”
Solving investigations in real time
The cases speak for themselves.
“We recently had a kidnapping,” said Henningsen. “The victim was able to free up and get out of the vehicle, and we were able to identify, through investigative means, where the car was going. Our real time center technician was able to get the car on a traffic camera … just at a point to where we knew we potentially may lose them, the drone was already overhead.”
That drone stayed with the suspect until officers moved into position. And because there was a child in the car, the team made the call to use unmarked units. “We were able to safely get the car in a position to where we were able to apprehend the suspect and save the young child,” Henningsen said.
In the video below, Scottsdale PD is featured in a local news segment discussing how their drones are enhancing real time crime center response efforts.
Kosina recalled another incident where video played a critical role in confirming the truth.
“There was an assault that took place on a bus stop,” he said. “The subject ended up changing his clothes by the time the officers caught up to him and he denied ever being there. The officers were able to leapfrog cameras all the way back and actually caught him on film changing his clothes.”
Incidents like these aren’t rare; they’re happening every day in agencies that have embraced real-time video. And while the technology helps close cases faster, it’s also answering a more pressing challenge in law enforcement: doing more with less.
Departments across the country are finding themselves understaffed and stretched thin. RTCCs aren’t replacing officers. They’re multiplying them.
“It just force multiplies,” said Kosina. “Being able to use that video that’s out there is not only catching crimes when they’re in progress, but it’s also preventing crime because people know that real time crime centers now exist.”
In many cases, Henningsen said, the RTCC is the first unit on scene — virtually.
“We have three primary missions,” he explained. “Virtual response, where we get on scene first and provide real time information; virtual partner, where we’re overhead during a traffic stop; and virtual mutual aid, where we support neighboring jurisdictions.”
Henningsen has seen firsthand how those missions turn into measurable impact: “Take a homicide investigation. Without a RTCC, it can cost an agency almost a half a million dollars — between overtime, equipment and the resources they need to use. But if a real time center is involved, has video of the incident, and is able to identify who the suspects are and lead patrol to them, the agency ends up saving big.”
Using real-time video to see through the noise
Real-time access means RTCC analysts can quickly catch errors in the initial information being relayed, often while officers are still en route.
“Maybe the original call came in saying that the suspect ran northbound,” Henningsen continued, “but the direction they pointed was actually southbound. So now, we’re directing officers in a direction that we don’t really know. But with a real time center, we’re able to see and identify, yes, that was northbound.”
And once officers are on scene, video provides immediate clarity.
“For example, with a real time center, before the officers even get on scene, they have a video in their email of a collision,” Henningsen said. “Sometimes you’ll be on a collision and ask, ‘Well, what happened?’ And one side says something completely different than the other side, so you’re trying to piece it together. But now with video, officers are able to watch and know exactly what happened.”
That kind of footage can cut hours off an investigation and, in many cases, so can the technology that processes it.
“Among the most transformative tools,” said Kosina, “is analytics. You can take thousands of hours of video and drop it down to a few minutes just by using analytics. Say you’re looking for a blue car in a certain area, you can tell the analytics to look for a blue car or a blue Tesla, and it’ll search thousands of hours of video and drop it down to a couple of minutes for you. Gone are the days of an officer or detective sitting there frame by frame for hours on end when you can have analytics do it for you.”
Henningsen pointed to license plate readers as another key addition: “We implemented license plate readers in 2023, and since 2023, we’ve recovered $1.8 million worth of vehicles,” he said. “That has led to over 100-plus felony arrests. All of those arrests were completely safe apprehensions. None of them turned into anything big and we were able to get all those vehicles recovered back to their rightful owner.”
As departments continue integrating video with smarter, faster tools, Kosina said the next leap is already here — it’s just waiting on policy to catch up.
“We have the technology capability at this moment to make it all fully automated,” he said. “It’s just about getting laws in place, especially with drones and FAA. But the technology exists where a 911 call comes out, it pinpoints it, and a drone can launch and be on scene. It’s fully autonomous.”
Still, technology alone isn’t what makes RTCCs successful.
For all the advantages real-time video and smart analytics bring — whether through faster decision-making, greater clarity or safer outcomes — building that kind of capability doesn’t require a sprawling command center or a million-dollar budget.
In fact, for many agencies, it starts with something much simpler.
From the closet up
Both Kosina and Henningsen are quick to dispel the myth that RTCCs are only for big cities with million-dollar budgets.
“Our motto is all you need is a computer and a radio,” Kosina said. “Start with your person. Find a location to put that person. I don’t’ care if it’s a closet — you put them in a closet, get them a computer and a radio, and then start building from there.”
Smaller agencies, Kosina said, often feel like they’re starting at a disadvantage: “And I always tell them, you’re not at a disadvantage. You’re starting just like everybody else is.”
Henningsen knows that feeling firsthand: “I started with a laptop and a radio. That’s literally how I started. Now, there are times today that I walk into our center and I’m like, ‘I could have never dreamt any of this when we first started.’ And as you lead and you get successes, the community’s going to come back to you, or your agency’s going to come back to you, and say, ‘What else do you need?”
Henningsen built his own setup incrementally — one piece of equipment at a time.
“I quickly left a laptop to an actual gaming computer because it was faster to watch the video. With the support of our technology group, I eventually went from one laptop to a full multi-monitor setup with two systems. It allowed me to be in two places at one time if I needed to.”
And today, many agencies are partnering regionally or building shared centers, especially in areas where staffing or funding a standalone RTCC just isn’t feasible.
“You have five or six smaller agencies together and one of them builds a center and the others just provide a body,” said Henningsen. “Now, you have other folks at other agencies that are able to provide resources to them in the event they need it.”
The model offers smaller departments access to tools and real-time support they might not be able to afford on their own. But it isn’t without challenges.
“There are some pros and cons to that too,” Henningsen added. “The pros, obviously, you’re going to get more resources to your agency. The con is you all have to use the same technology. That can be a little difficult.”
Technology isn’t the only hurdle. Whether departments are building centers from scratch or teaming up with neighboring agencies, the road to standing up a RTCC is rarely simple. From staffing and budget limitations to overcoming public skepticism, the barriers are often steep and familiar.
Addressing video concerns and public trust
Despite the clear benefits of RTCC video, agencies often face skepticism from the public and hesitation within their own ranks.
“The two big ones?” said Kosina. “Public perception and funding. Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, police have cameras, they have drones … it’s Big Brother,’ and it’s not like that,” he added. “I’ve yet to see an agency that has enough staff to have someone sitting there watching all these feeds.”
Henningsen agrees that building trust is essential to using video responsibly.
“Privacy concerns are definitely at the forefront that any community may have about a real time center,” he said. “That’s why through the NRTCCA we have a certification process. They’ll learn and understand more about privacy, civil rights and civil liberties.”
Just as important, Henningsen said, is showing the public exactly how the system works and inviting them to see it for themselves.
“Transparency is the standard, not the exception,” he said. “We are open to all our citizen police academies. We have over 25 community partners. We’ve invited all of them to come in and see our center. We did almost 200 tours last year.”
That openness — to both community input and evolving tools — is helping define what comes next.
From cadet to crime center supervisor, Chris Henningson has seen it all. In this “Shop Talk” podcast episode, City of Scottsdale Police Chief Jeff Walther sits down with Henningson to discuss how Scottsdale PD’s real time crime center has transformed policing and what’s next for this innovative unit.
Where real-time video goes from here
The future of RTCC video, both say, is more: more cameras, more automation, more integration and more collaboration.
“I see the adoption of more cameras in general,” Kosina said. “Cities buying better quality cameras and that backend piece of the analytics so you’re able to process that video so much faster.”
Henningsen believes regionalization will continue to grow: “You’re going to see more cities sharing budgets for real time centers, expanding license plate reader networks and launching Drone as First Responder programs.”
And while the tools and partnerships behind RTCCs will keep evolving, both say the mission remains unchanged: getting critical video and intelligence into the hands of officers and investigators when they need it most.
Kosina put it simply: “The reason it’s called real-time is because literally it’s happening in real-time and we’re solving it in real-time.”
Henningsen nodded to what that really means for investigators and the families waiting for answers: “With real time centers now, we’re not just watching what’s going on and updating where the suspect or victim is so we can get help where it’s needed. In unfortunate situations, what we’re ultimately able to do is give detectives the tools to bring closure to families.”
He paused, considering the broader implications.
“It makes me think about all of those unsolved cases you hear about throughout the country,” Henningsen said. “If there had been a real time center — if we’d had that video, that visibility — would that case still be unsolved? It really helps solve cases faster and bring people answers.”
