TECHNOLOGY

BayROC Gives Law Enforcement New Approach to Fighting Crime

by: Ruth Corley, Bay County Sheriff’s Office

Law enforcement is optimizing crime-fighting capabilities in Bay County by using the latest technology and a new approach to addressing criminal activity. This new county-wide project is called the Bay Real Time Operation Center, or BayROC.

BayROC went operational November 1, 2021, and is a collaborative effort by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Panama City Police Department, the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Lynn Haven Police Department, the Springfield Police Department, the Parker Police Department and Bay District Schools Police Department. The operation center is located within the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and is comprised of a supervisor, Inspector Jon Morris, and two full-time crime analysts. The goal of BayROC is to provide relevant, real-time information directly to law enforcement in the field. In order to do this, BayROC uses an integrated system combining school, traffic and business cameras and license plate readers to assist responding law enforcement and solve crimes.

A responding officer engaged in a high-risk call for service now has the added resources in real-time to improve response and situational awareness. This will give the officer enhanced decision making in the field. The use of technological resources allows law

enforcement response to be more efficient and deliberate, with improved operational intelligence. The emphasis is on officer, citizen and community safety.

From its first day of operation, BayROC has proven its value.

› On Day 1, the team was able to coordinate with PCPD to close out a Silver Alert, locating the missing person within five minutes of the alert. The elderly gentleman was reunited with his family.

› During the first month of operation, BayROC located numerous wanted persons with outstanding warrants on charges ranging from burglary, domestic violence and grand theft.

› In December of 2021, a 911 call reported a burglary in progress. Within one minute of the 911 call, BayROC personnel identified the suspect vehicle and pushed out information to responding law enforcement. The vehicle was located, and suspects detained.

› Also in December of 2021, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to a homicide. Once the suspect was identified, the BayROC team used technological resources and quickly learned the suspect had fled the state. Working with out of state law enforcement, BayROC assisted in the coordination of the suspect’s capture in northern Alabama.

› In December of 2021, BayROC, working with the Tallahassee

Police Department, was able to establish a suspect wanted in eight liquor store robberies was traveling between Tallahassee and Panama City. The result of this coordinated effort was the apprehension of this suspect in the parking lot of a liquor store in Tallahassee.

› In January of 2022, BayROC was able to identify and locate numerous wanted persons and burglary suspects that were arrested and taken into custody.

Perhaps one of the most well-publicized events to benefit from BayROC coordination was the weekend of March 26 and 27 when 161 individuals were booked into the Bay County Jail by law enforcement in response to “PCB Takeover” crowds. Using technology and intelligence to identify and target trouble spots and spontaneous crowds, BayROC was, as Sheriff Tommy Ford said, a “game changer” in how the weekend crowds were successfully handled.

For example, based on specific intelligence, law enforcement raided a house party with some of the main promoters in attendance. At this party, individuals with firearms were arrested and the attendees evicted by the homeowner. BayROC also communicated with law enforcement agencies in the hometowns of “PCB Takeover” attendees and were able to specifically target and disrupt activities.

Local law enforcement must also remain sensitive to and respectful of the privacy of Bay County residents. Traffic cameras used by BayROC are currently available for viewing online by the public. The cameras have a short retention period that varies from system to system. The BayROC system has firm audit capabilities to ensure the system is operated within guidelines. Currently, local law enforcement is asking for any business or homeowner with security video cameras to join the BayROC system. By signing up, homeowners agree to provide relevant video to law enforcement if there has been a crime in the homeowner’s neighborhood. Law enforcement can NOT access the homeowner’s camera at any time, but simply knows there is one that may have captured images of a suspect, and the homeowner has agreed to provide the relevant video should they be asked. Sign your camera up by going to baycounty.fususregistry.com.

› Once again, notifying BayROC you have security cameras does not mean BayROC will have access to your security camera footage.

› If a crime happens in your neighborhood, and you have notified law enforcement you have a security camera, they will reach out and ask for relevant security camera footage.

› There is no additional cost associated with sharing your security camera footage.

Residents can also participate in a tip line if they see something criminal happening, Call (850) 919-8477.

BayROC is a true collaborative effort between our cities and county. Each agency has integrated technology on their own that will now be used by BayROC to give us a complete picture of crime in Bay County.

Most of the resources used to create BayROC have been funded through grants and forfeiture funds. In the future, analysts employed by the various agencies will be housed in BayROC as the goal is to expand capabilities soon.

Another advance in technology used by the BCSO is the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), a thermal imaging infrared camera system set up on the BCSO Air Unit One. This system was invaluable in March of 2022 at locating nuisance house parties, directing law enforcement on the ground to the precise location of the residence and reporting to officers on the ground the location of anyone attempting to leave the premises.

The FLIR camera system is directly linked to the new real-timecrime center BayROC, allowing analysts to watch and respond in real time what the FLIR system is visualizing. Teams on the ground then benefit from the speedy flow of information from analysts with a birds-eye view of the incident as it happens.

By using the FLIR system, the BCSO can locate missing persons, find suspects, find disturbed earth situations (shallow graves), assist firefighting efforts and any other situation where heat is involved.

By utilizing the latest in technology and maintaining strong partnerships between agencies, Bay County law enforcement is better able to keep Bay County safe.