The police department is establishing its own real-time crime tracking center.
GASTONIA, N.C. — The Gastonia Police Department is expanding its surveillance capabilities by adding more cameras across the city.
The agency told WCNC Charlotte these cameras will help solve and prevent crimes. This proposal also aligns with the department’s efforts to build its real-time crime center.
The city of Gastonia already has 21 Flock cameras equipped with plate readers to capture license plates. City leaders on Tuesday night approved a proposal that allows the purchase of 22 cameras for the police department. These newer video cameras will have the ability to zoom, record, and better follow suspected criminal activity.
The department said in 2023, the cameras were used in 122 cases. Among those cases, 55 of them have been solved.
The technology also gives the agency access to a network of over 3,000 cameras in the Flock system.
“Burke County Sheriff’s Office had entered a stolen car and stolen plate, and the car passed one of our cameras one morning coming into Gastonia,” Gastonia Police said in a statement. “One of our officers received the alert from the cameras and was able to stop this car. The driver was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and SEVERAL outstanding warrants. The passenger was arrested for possession of meth.”
The cameras also helped identify a homicide suspect.
“There was a homicide and during the course of the investigation, a witness was able to describe a suspect vehicle and direction of travel for the vehicle. The scene of the homicide just happened to be about 500 feet from one of our Flock cameras,” the department shared.
Investigators matched the witness description with video recordings and were able to identify the suspect, according to the department.
The police department was awarded a $15,000 grant by Norfolk Southern Railway and a nearly $1 million grant by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to implement the real-time crime center. The police department plans to cover the cost of the cameras through grants.
In neighboring Charlotte, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department also operates a real-time crime center that utilizes cameras throughout the city.
Gastonia residents said the cameras are tools worth investing in.
“I need the cameras out there because they keep you safer,” Renee Davidson said. “If the cameras are up then it will deter them from doing it.”
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
