SEATTLE — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
The rape suspect didn’t know police were watching.
Earlier this year, a Seattle officer took a report of forcible rape and kept returning to the neighborhood, hoping the suspect’s vehicle might show up again. Eventually, it did.
“He immediately called our Real Time Crime Center,” Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes recalled during SPD’s 2025 Year in Review.
Analysts pulled video from the previous day and located the same car described by a witness. The officer asked for confirmation of the registration tag. Analysts matched the plate, and officers made the arrest.
The case is one of hundreds illustrating how Seattle’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), which launched in May 2025, is changing the way the department responds to crime.
Officers 3x more likely to make arrest with RTCC support, data shows
According to a department analysis of 220,000 calls for service, officers and detectives are three times more likely to arrest a suspect when they receive support from RTCC analysts.
SPD’s Performance Analytics & Research group reviewed every 911 response in the nine months since the center opened. The results, Barnes said, show the impact of pairing frontline officers with real‑time data, video, and investigative support.
The RTCC assisted in 17 homicide cases last year and helped close 10 of them, which Barnes credits for the city’s homicide clearance rate rising to 86 percent, which is far above the national average.
The system is poised to grow with new cameras being installed in Capitol Hill, the Stadium District, and near Garfield High School.
The expansion comes amid privacy concerns.
In fall 2025, the Seattle City Council voted 7–2 to expand video surveillance, adding more closed‑circuit cameras and allowing police access to 145 Seattle Department of Transportation traffic cameras.
More than 100 residents spoke against the move during public comment, concerned that expanded surveillance could expose immigrants, protesters, and marginalized communities to federal monitoring. Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who voted against the measures, warned the system could be misused by federal agencies.
Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle pushed back on those concerns, saying many criticisms were based on misconceptions.
“SPD only shares data with the federal government in matters of criminal enforcement,” Kettle said, noting that otherwise “a federal agency would need to subpoena the data.”
The Real Time Crime Center remains in a two‑year pilot phase, with an independent evaluation underway by the Office of Inspector General and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania.
Read more of Aaron Granillo’s stories here.
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