SMART Center
Intelligence. Innovation. Safety.
Timely information. Coordinated response. Stronger investigations.
When an emergency unfolds, officers need to understand what is happening, where help is needed, and what risks they may encounter. When a serious crime occurs, investigators need information that can help identify those responsible and establish what happened.
The Santa Monica Police Department’s Santa Monica Analytical Real-Time (SMART) Center brings people, technology, and timely information together to support emergency response and criminal investigations. From developing leads in shooting investigations to helping officers locate theft suspects and recover stolen property, the center strengthens the work of personnel serving Santa Monica every day.
The true strength lies in connecting available information with the people who can act on it: officers responding to an emergency, detectives pursuing an investigation, and personnel coordinating a developing incident.
What is the SMART Center?
The Santa Monica Analytical Real-Time Center, known as the SMART Center, is SMPD’s centralized hub for technology-supported emergency response and investigative assistance.
Personnel bring together information from available cameras, emergency calls, automated license plate readers, and other authorized resources to support officers in the field and detectives working cases. This coordinated approach helps connect information that might otherwise need to be gathered separately.
The center’s purpose is practical: help officers understand what is happening, identify where assistance is needed, and develop information that can move an investigation forward. Technology supports the judgment and work of trained personnel. It does not establish guilt or replace a thorough investigation.
A major investment in Santa Monica's public safety
The center officially launched on April 21, 2026, following SMPD’s award of a $6.125 million competitive state grant through the California Board of State and Community Corrections’ Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program. Awarded in 2023, the funding helped establish the center as part of a broader effort to address organized retail theft, vehicle theft, and catalytic converter theft. Read the grant announcement. Read the launch announcement.
That investment created a dedicated setting for personnel to connect information, support field operations, and assist investigations. The center’s work extends to serious and violent crimes, emergency response, and coordination during major incidents and community events.
What does this investment mean for the community:
- For a person calling for help: responding officers can receive additional information about conditions at the reported location.
- For a victim of crime: investigators have additional resources to locate evidence, pursue leads, and help recover stolen property.
- For businesses and employees: coordinated investigative support helps officers respond to theft and identify activity connected to crimes in other communities.
- For officers in the field: relevant camera views, incident details, and investigative information can help them assess risks and make informed decisions.
Supporting emergency response and serious criminal investigations
During an emergency: a clearer understanding of the situation
A call for help often begins with limited information. As officers respond, SMART Center personnel can review available resources and relay relevant details about the location, involved people or vehicles, and potential hazards.
A camera view may help clarify where an incident is occurring. Emergency-call information may provide additional context. An aerial view during a drone deployment may help personnel assess conditions beyond what can be seen from the ground. Together, these resources can support decisions about where to send assistance and how to approach a developing situation.
Officers still assess the conditions they encounter. The center supports that judgment by helping them make use of information available beyond their immediate view.
After a serious or violent crime: connecting leads and evidence
Shootings, robberies, and other serious offenses can require investigators to reconstruct events across multiple locations and sources of information. SMART Center personnel help locate relevant footage, develop vehicle leads, and clarify the sequence of events.
That work can help investigators determine what happened before an incident, identify information about people or vehicles involved, and identify questions requiring further investigation. Detectives assess those leads alongside witness accounts, physical evidence, and other findings.
Accurate information also helps distinguish people who were involved from those who were not. A thorough investigation requires personnel to evaluate both what the available information supports and what it does not establish.
Addressing organized theft: connecting activity across locations
Organized retail theft can involve multiple stores, vehicles, and jurisdictions. The SMART Center supports efforts to connect relevant information, identify patterns, and coordinate investigative work with partner agencies within applicable information-sharing rules.
In one published case, SMART Center resources and drone support helped officers locate suspects associated with thefts from Alo stores in multiple cities. Officers recovered merchandise and returned it to the retailer. See how the resources worked together.
This work supports employees, shoppers, and businesses affected by theft, while helping investigators address activity that may extend beyond a single incident.
Supporting major events and developing incidents
Large gatherings require coordination across locations, personnel, and agencies. Available views and incident information can help personnel understand emerging concerns and identify where assistance is needed.
The City’s World Cup public safety plan identified a role for the SMART Center in providing timely information and supporting coordination during high-attendance events and busy travel periods. Read about the center’s role in event planning.
The people behind the technology
Experience, judgment and coordination put information to work.
Personnel must determine which information is relevant, assess its reliability, and communicate it clearly. A camera image, an emergency call, or a vehicle alert becomes useful when it is evaluated in the context of an incident and connected with other findings
| Part of the response | How the work connects |
|---|---|
| Public safety dispatch | Receives calls and coordinates the dispatch response. |
| SMART Center personnel | Review available authorized resources and provide relevant operational information and investigative leads. |
| Responding officers | Assess conditions, assist people, investigate, and take appropriate action in the field. |
| Detectives | Develop and test leads, gather additional evidence, and pursue the investigation. |
This coordination connects the initial response with the work that follows. Information developed during an active incident may also help detectives identify evidence for a continuing investigation.
The resources it brings together
Different resources answer different questions.
During an investigation, a camera may provide information about a vehicle, ALPR may help develop a vehicle-related lead, and officers may locate evidence during subsequent fieldwork. In another incident, available video and drone support may help personnel locate suspects and coordinate a response.
The resources used depend on the facts of the incident, availability, and authorized purpose. A vehicle record alone does not establish who was driving or whether a crime occurred.
| Resource | What it contributes | How it can support officers and investigators |
|---|---|---|
| Public safety cameras and video review | Available views of public areas and recorded activity. | Assess conditions during an incident, locate relevant footage, and help reconstruct events. |
| Automated license plate readers, or ALPR | Vehicle-related information for authorized purposes. | Develop leads involving vehicles connected to investigations or other permitted public safety concerns. |
| Drone as First Responder resources | Aerial views during deployments. | Help assess conditions and support coordination with officers on the ground. |
| Live911 and emergency-call information | Information about emergencies as they are reported. | Give personnel additional context to support situational awareness and response coordination. |
Explore ALPR in detail: How SMPD uses automated license plate readers and protects information.
Connecting resources does not expand employees’ authority to access or share information. Each system remains subject to its own rules.
Privacy, authorized access, and employee accountability
Protecting public safety includes respecting privacy and using information responsibly. SMART Center resources are for authorized department work. Access is not permission to use information for personal curiosity, private interests, or an unauthorized purpose.
Safeguards depend on the resource
SMPD’s public safety CCTV policy requires authorized, trained users; individual credentials; and logs identifying access to recorded images. It directs supervisory monitoring and periodic system review. It prohibits intentional intrusion into areas with a reasonable expectation of privacy, discriminatory targeting, harassment, and unauthorized viewing or disclosure. Read SMPD Policy 338: Closed-Circuit Television.
ALPR has separate requirements for authorized use, searches, retention, review, and sharing. Those requirements are explained on the ALPR information page. Using ALPR through the SMART Center does not remove its restrictions.
Misuse is a serious violation of public trust
Employees are responsible for following the policies that govern the information they access and use. Unauthorized access, searches, use, or disclosure are serious matters. Employees who violate department policy are subject to disciplinary action. Access to public safety technology carries a responsibility to protect both the information and the people it concerns.
Results and examples of the center's work
Putting the investment to work
The center’s value is reflected in the work it helps officers and investigators accomplish: identifying a vehicle after a shooting, locating suspects, developing evidence, and recovering property for victims. The cases below show specific contributions by SMART Center personnel and resources, followed by the fieldwork and investigations they supported.