San Francisco Police's new surveillance hub being credited with 20% drop in crime
SAN FRANCISCO — Tucked away in the bowels of San Francisco's Hall of Justice lies a crime-fighting nerve center bringing the city's police force into the age of changing technology.
The San Francisco Police Department said its new Real Time Investigation Center — also known as RTIC — has assisted in more than 500 arrests since its launch, with officials pointing to the facility as a game-changer in reducing crime across the city.
"This technology is the future of policing for SFPD officers, using their training and judgment supported by the best tools available to keep our communities safe as we continue to fully staff the RTIC and using drones and first responders will be a force multiplier," said Mayor Daniel Lurie. "It will give officers more support, and it will help ensure that every neighborhood benefits from smarter, faster and more coordinated public safety."
RTIC is a 24/7 operations center where teams of analysts monitor live surveillance feeds, license plate readers, and drone footage to guide officers on the ground in real time. According to SFPD, the integration of technology is leading to more efficient response times, less paperwork, and a drop in crime.
"We're seeing it happen every day," said Captain Thomas Maguire, who oversees the RTIC. "Every week, we're coming up with success stories. We're watching crime drop in the city, and it's been good."
It's tucked away in a 1960s-era, cement building that isn't known for its technological innovation. Often, it's hard to get cell service inside the hall. Even Maguire acknowledged the irony of its placement.
"The Hall of Justice. Never thought we'd call it the center of technology here, but that's what we're here for today," he told reporters.
Even so, it appears to be enough for the task.
Police Chief Bill Scott credited the center, and the technology, with a 20% drop in crime from January through early April, compared to the same period last year, including one of the steepest drops in car theft which is down 42% this year compared to 2024.
"In the last year — the last three months — we've had more technological advancements than we've seen in decades," he said.
"We have been arresting people that have been prolific, people that have really damaged our city and damaged our retail spaces, damaged our reputation, made people feel unsafe," Scott added. "Those are the people that these officers, these investigators, these analysts, and the collaborative effort of RTIC is put together to address is getting people who harm other people our city off the streets, and I think they have done a fantastic job in doing that."
The deployment of the technology was made possible after voters approved Proposition E in 2024, expanding the department's authority to use emerging technologies such as drones and license plate reading systems.
Still, not everyone is on board. Privacy advocates, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warn that such surveillance methods could quickly spiral into privacy violations. Beryl Lipton, a researcher for EFF, raised concerns about potential misuse.
"As more real time crime centers are being propped up, there is additional concern about the individual surveillance technologies that are being fed into the crime center, the additional technologies that could be added to the real time crime center in the future," she said.
SFPD said it's not using generative AI in its procedures, but didn't rule out the use of AI in policework in the future. And for Lipton, that sounds alarm bells.
"This evolving use of artificial intelligence to try to make connections between different pieces of data that may or may not actually be there, but we, the public, have no sense for how it's actually being conducted."
The center — and its technologic partner — is also hoping to attract more police talent to the department that remains understaffed by 500 officers. Scott said the cameras have at times proven wrongfully accused people innocent by verifying and tracking the true criminals.
For Captain Maguire, the shift is nothing short of revolutionary.
"We're just scratching the surface," he said. "This is probably one of the most significant paradigm shifts in policing I've seen in my career."
