A look at the Columbia County Sheriff's Office “Real Time Crime Center”

APPLING, Georgia (WJBF) – It's been more than a year since the Columbia County Sheriff's Office opened its Real-Time Crime Center.

Equipped with cutting-edge technology, the real-time crime center allows the agency to catch criminals in the act.

Operators can quickly locate people using tools such as license plate readers, search databases and high-tech phone systems.

“We see cases where people from outside of Columbia County come here to commit crimes, and they do things like hide their tags or remove their tags from their vehicles before they commit a crime,” said Lt. Jamey Moss. “But with this technology that we have, even if they remove their tags from their cars, we can still track them down.”

They also have about a thousand cameras located throughout the county, including in every school.

“In the early moments of an emergency, there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of misinformation can come out,” Lt. Moss said. “So the fact that we can turn a camera and actually see what’s happening gives us the clarity that we often need. Just like our traffic network, we can virtually respond to these incidents in seconds. Looking here, this is actually Grovetown High School.”

It is helpful that the 911 call center and the crime center are connected, making communication more efficient.

“When an incident occurs, they are very good at communicating with each other and making sure they are sharing information, which allows us to use technology to inform deputies and responders of what is going on,” Lt. Moss said.

And it's not just crimes that are monitored. I was at the center when a public safety incident occurred in the county, and the sheriff's office was able to respond almost instantly.

“We've been able to respond to incidents like the one behind us, a large gas leak that occurred today on Furys Ferry Road,” said Lt. Moss. “Just the second we got the 911 call about the gas line being hit, we were able to use the closest camera we had and turn around to survey the scene before anyone even arrived. »

The Crime Center and 911 Call Center are hiring. To apply, click here.