Pueblo receives $1 million grant for Real Time Crime Center

(PUEBLO, Colo.) — The City of Pueblo received an award from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to assist with funding the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) of the Pueblo Police Department.

On Monday, July 22, the city of Pueblo announced DOLA awarded the city a $1 million grant. Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham and Chief of Staff Brian McCain traveled to Montrose to present before DOLA regarding this grant application.

“This is the second $1 million award the City of Pueblo has received this year from the Department of Local Affairs which provides a tremendous influx of dollars for critical needs in our community,” said Mayor Graham. “While the Real Time Crime Center is already up and running, we are expanding the ShotSpotter technology, capacity and applying more upgrades to assist our officers during critical calls.”

Consideration for the grant award was based on energy impact, degree of need, measurable outcomes, amount of request, relationship to community goals, level of local match and community support, management capacity, resiliency, and readiness to go.

The RTCC went fully live in early July, providing critical information to be relayed in a time of need. The center includes technology like ShotSpotter, officer-worn body footage, drone footage when deployed by the Pueblo Police Department (PPD), camera footage such as doorbell cameras or security cameras authorized by local homeowners or business owners, license plate readers, and more.

This technology allows non-sworn personnel to assist police officers in real-time while on call.

With the $1 million grant, the city is required to match an award with an additional million dollars for a total of $2 million to be allocated towards the RTCC. The DOLA grant will specifically provide funding to increase the SpotShotter locations and fund upgrades to expand the footprint of technology deployed by PPD.

“We are excited to receive this grant and looking forward to the increased capability this funding will bring to our Real Time Crime Center and our officers on the street,” said Chief of Pueblo Police Chris Noeller.

The RTCC has been used to help identify individuals connected with car theft, individuals with warrants, to help other counties in Colorado make an arrest, car theft, shot detections that have been unreported to 911, and more crime-related incidents. Through July 20 of this year, 676 incidents of shots have been detected by ShotSpotter and PPD is seeing the benefits of the technology.

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