Mayor Perkins touring Real-Time Crime centers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge

(KSLA) - Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins is touring Real-Time Crime centers in New Orleans and Baton Rouge Friday.

Mayor Perkins is visiting the center in New Orleans at 11 a.m., then will travel to Baton Rouge to visit the center there at 3 p.m. He is joined by Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor and other city leaders.

The Real-Time Crime Center is set up so multiple emergency response agencies can better coordinate in order to respond to criminal situations more effectively. Each center has hundreds of cameras placed around the city that are used to monitor and respond to emergencies. New Orleans has more than 700 cameras in neighborhoods and various buildings.

”Our main goal is to make our first responders more efficient and we have saved over 8,000 manpower hours,” said Ross Bourgeois with Public Safety Support Services.

It’s a system that both city leaders think is bettering the area. The centers allow eyes all across the city, giving first responders a heads up on emergencies and the best way to respond.

Mayor Perkins, Councilwoman Taylor and other city officials saw firsthand how this system works.

”It’s a lot of different things that we’re learning today on how this could bring not just safety to Shreveport, but just overall quality of life ,” said Perkins.

New Orleans installed the system back in 2017, with each camera costing $8,000. In Baton Rouge, the system isn’t as large but the city says they are working to grow it to cover more neighborhoods.

Councilwoman Tayler says it’s about building a joint effort with the community to ensure trust.

“Education and engagement, that is exactly what we would do. We would educate the public, but I also want those champions that literally want to take back control of their neighborhood that they’ve felt they lost. It’s not anything we’re doing that we’re not going to properly vet. So, involving the community at the beginning and not at the end is the most important thing,” said Tayler.

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