COLUMBUS – Columbus city leaders on Monday took the first step toward construction of a $7 million Real Time Crime Center in Linden.
The process began with the demolition of buildings on the site. Construction on the new law enforcement facility will begin in 2025 and should be completed in 2027, Mayor Andrew Ginther said.
The center will house 911 dispatch services and be a “nerve center” for intelligence and data analysis.
“Put quite simply, this helps us get on offense, fighting crime and ultimately preventing crime before it happens,” he said.
The center at the intersection of Beulah Road and Carolyn Avenue will house analysts who will have access to various sources of raw information, such as the ShotSpotter gunfire detection technology, images and video from neighborhood surveillance cameras and police officers’ body-worn cameras.
“It’s going to help us fight crime in a smarter way,” police chief Elaine Bryant said.
West Side crime sweep
The latest “Operation Unity” anti-crime sweep focused on the troubled Wedgewood Village Apartments neighborhood on the West Side.
Over a 27-hour period last week, officers, detectives, SWAT personnel, socials services agencies and others made 34 arrests and seized one firearm.
“Operation Unity” is a collaboration of law enforcement and social services working together in specific neighborhoods of the city to specifically address violent offenders, recover firearms, and confiscate illegal narcotics.
In the latest sweep officers made 34 felony and misdemeanor arrests, recovered one firearm and impounded six vehicles, according to Columbus Division of Police public information officer Sgt. Joe Albert.