Columbus started demolishing existing buildings at the future site for a new "real-time" crime center and 911 call center in Linden on Monday.
City officials said at a press conference the new center will house 911 call operations and a new data analysis center that uses images and live video feeds from a range of systems. They include neighborhood safety cameras, body-worn cameras, ShotSpotter gunshot detector data and numerous law enforcement databases. The site, at 750 Piedmont Road, is a city-owned property along I-71.
Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant said the center will help the city fight crime in a smarter way.
"We've used cameras to be able to find homicide suspects. We've used technology to be able to track cars. And it's not just always about violent crime. We've also used the technology to be able to find endangered missing (people)," Bryant said.
Monday was like a ceremonial ground-breaking for the project. The city needs to finish demolishing the existing building at the site before more work can be done.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther joked that he wouldn't take part in operating the demolition equipment like past Columbus mayors have done shortly after a city worker began caving in the roof of the building with a backhoe.
City officials announced the crime center in 2021, putting $10 million towards the project at the time.
Ginther said the call center will be a "nerve center" for criminal intelligence and data analysis in the city.
"It will better position law enforcement to predict, prevent and solve crimes across the community. Put quite simply, this helps us get on offense, fighting crime and ultimately preventing crime before it happens in the first place in our neighborhoods," Ginther said.
The mayor said the city expects to start both the design and construction of the project in 2025 and finish it in 2027.
