PJV officials visit Suffolk’s Real Time Crime Center

Last week, Port Jefferson village officials took a trip out to Yaphank to take a look at the Suffolk County Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center.

The village’s parking and mobility administrator, Kevin Wood, was joined out east by trustee Kathianne Snaden and chief of code enforcement, Fred Leute, where the team was updated by Stuart Cameron, chief of police department and acting commissioner.

Wood said that Cameron gave a detailed report on the integration of Port Jefferson’s security cameras into the RTCC, and learned that the crime center has around 4,000 integrated cameras integrated. This network of cameras has been created to deter and solve crimes. 

“It was fantastic to be the first village on the Island to be hooked up to the Real Time Crime Center,” Snaden said. “That partnership is invaluable, and our village is on the cutting edge of all technology when it comes to public safety. I’m happy to where we are and am proud of it.”

According to Wood, back in May 2019, Village of Port Jefferson officials announced it become the first village on Long Island to connect through videography with the county’s RTCC. This allowed the police to tap into the eight village security cameras (at the time) positioned in places like the train station and the three-way intersection at West Broadway and Main Street.

“The technology is growing, and getting better and better,” Wood said. “I thought it was important to bring Kathianne and chief along to catch up, see where they’re at and where we’re going with it.” 

These cameras were instrumental in capturing the murder of David Bliss Jr., of Shirley, in March, which led to an arrest just 72 hours after the incident.

The print version of this story said Kathianne Snaden has never been to the Real Time Crime Center before. This was her third visit. We regret the mistake.