Following a Monday 9News report that the Denver Police Department had “quietly expanded” its surveillance camera network, Denver City Council sought answers from police chief Paul Pazen, who responded to members on Wednesday in a letter sent by email.

Pazen said the system in question, called the Real Time Crime Information Center (RTCIC), has been in operation since August and integrates technologies the department “has been using for years,” including its ShotSpotter system and HALO camera network, which includes 239 cameras around the city, many of which are concentrated in northwest Denver.

RTCIC technicians act as “extra eyes for patrol officers,” Pazen wrote in the letter, and can monitor in real-time various locations across the city.

In addition to HALO cameras, 9News reported that technicians can now also access the cameras of Denver Public Schools, the Regional Transportation District, the Colorado Department of Transportation and other locations – information that prompted questions from the council.

The department “has not purchased or requested funds from City Council to add cameras to our HALO camera network,” Pazen wrote. “We have worked with our public safety partners at RTD and Denver Public Schools to access their surveillance camera networks to help enhance safety for students/educators and public transit users, primarily during emergencies and in the event of a mass casualty incident.”

Council members also inquired about the locations of the HALO cameras. Pazen said a map of the camera locations can be viewed online at denvergov.org/maps/map/halocameras.

“The RTCIC is a component of my Strategic Plan 2019-2023, and between December 2018 and June 2019, I discussed the Strategic Plan with City Councilmembers, the Independent Monitor, the ACLU and presented the plan to residents through district-level community meetings,” Pazen wrote in his concluding remarks.

Denise Maes of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado said the news came as “a little bit of a surprise” in an interview with 9News. “So I’m curious where the discourse in this conversation was.

“It seems to me the police are relying more and more on surveillance of just regular Coloradans, regulator Denverites. And so that’s a little disconcerting,” Maes said.

RTCIC letter to council[12945].pdf