Bradley Bedwell the District 3 Commissioner, during his comment section of the June 17 commission meeting, states city manager Randy Morris Even though the actual numbers show a drop of 20% in crime, the public doesn’t feel safe due to recent gun shots fired in public places. This I would like this real time crime center open sooner than later, if we can afford it. As a police force we are very reactive as of now, it is time for us to be proactive as we can as a police force.
Well Bedwell has requested and with full support of the rest of the commission, City Manager Randy Morris has greenlighted the Real Time Crime Center. Renovations are underway in the old e911 building as we speak. The technology expense will be added to the budget and should be opened shortly after the new year in 2026.
What is a real time crime center. This is the ability to use technology to fight crime. This center will be set up like a command center at any army base with a staff of the command center tapped into all 2000 of the city of Dothan’s cameras. If an event occurs, staff can deploy additional technology and police officers as soon as an event happens in real time. Additional technology will start in the forms of high tech drones with infrared capabilities, livestream, and recording capabilities. These drones will be housed on top of all the fire stations, that can be deployed remotely by the staff at the real time crime center. Another layer of technology that Bedwell and the rest of the commissioners will approve will be the Shotspotter technology that will pinpoint any shot fired at the city limit, which will give the staff the ability to deploy a drone by the crime center, and record and follow the shooter, until the real police officers arrive. Commissioner Bedwell says if you shoot into the air in Dothan Alabama, you aren’t going to be able to get away with it anymore. He also said when I was running uncontested at the end of this May, this is the reason I asked for an opponent. One of my opponent was stating crime was higher, even though official dothan reports doesn’t show that in the numbers. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that crime is down 20 percent compared to 2020, it pointed to a perception that people don’t feel safe. Although the realtime crime center would have been built eventually, we couldn’t wait on it Bedwell said, not with people not feeling safe. It may cost money to get started, but it people don’t feel safe to go out and go shopping, the difference in loss of sales tax will cover the entire cost of the realtime crime center. He has an idea to bring all the schools by when it opens, so our kids can see if they commit a crime, they will not get away with it. He finished with if you are in the crime business in Dothan, you may want to find a new occupation.
