PHOENIX — Miami Beach Police Department’s Real Time Intelligence Center opened March 10, 2025, in the middle of spring break.
For a city that hosts roughly 185 to 190 special events a year and can grow from about 90,000 full-time residents to nearly 250,000 people on busy weekends, it was not the quietest possible launch.
At the National Real Time Crime Center Association (NRTCCA) conference, Miami Beach Police Lt. Raymond Diaz described what the department learned during the center’s first year. His presentation covered the department’s DFR program and camera network, as well as the practical decisions agencies face after launch: staffing the room, training civilian specialists, evaluating vendors, documenting results and deciding when to hold off on a new purchase.
Miami Beach’s experience is not a blueprint every agency can copy. Its needs are shaped by an eight-mile barrier island, a concentrated entertainment district and a demanding special-event calendar. But Diaz’s decisions offer a practical sequence for agencies building an RTCC from the ground up.
Build the foundation before building the room
Miami Beach did not begin with a modern RTCC. The department’s camera program began in 2014 with 25 cameras, four mobile license plate readers and a cubicle.
Over time, the department expanded the network, first targeting major roadways and areas with frequent calls for service. Diaz said Miami Beach had more than 850 cameras and 30 LPRs by the time the RTIC opened. The network has since grown to more than 1,100 devices, including multisensor cameras, providing more than 2,000 camera views, he said.
The RTIC itself was made possible through a voter-approved general obligation bond, but Diaz urged agencies not to start by focusing on the physical space.
“If you don’t have the sensors, you don’t have the cameras, you don’t have the license plate readers, that room is not going to have anything to plug into,” he said.
The department had previously created ad hoc command posts during special events, setting up monitors and assigning personnel to watch cameras and LPR alerts. The RTIC gave those existing resources a more permanent operational home.
That distinction matters for agencies starting with limited resources. A center does not need to begin as a large, technology-heavy room. It needs a useful information network and people who can turn that information into support for officers and investigators.
Build the staffing model around the work
Miami Beach opened the RTIC with two professional staff members, a sergeant who was also handling other responsibilities and command staff overseeing the program.
“Don’t panic if you only have one or two bodies at first,” Diaz said. “You’ve got to play with the cards that you’re dealt.”
Diaz said the department used documented operational results to support additional staffing. Miami Beach now has five real-time intelligence specialists, a dedicated sergeant and a sworn officer assigned to the unit.
He also offered a clear model for staffing an active incident.
“For any incident, I like to have three,” Diaz said.
One specialist handles live CCTV video. A second reviews playback to determine what occurred before officers arrived. The third serves as the DFR pilot and can provide aerial support if a person or vehicle moves beyond the camera network.
The structure is meant to prevent the center from becoming reactive. The live-video specialist can communicate current information to officers, while the playback specialist can identify suspect descriptions, direction of travel or other information that officers may not have received in the initial call.
Miami Beach uses intelligence specialists for real-time work and a crime analyst for more extensive research. Diaz said the analyst handles deeper background work on subjects or locations during critical incidents, such as a barricaded-person call or an operation that may involve a tactical team.
Give civilian specialists operational context
The center relies heavily on professional staff, including for DFR operations. Diaz said all RTIC personnel are trained on the department’s video management system, Fusus, DFR and other core systems, and all are FAA Part 107-certified.
But he emphasized that software training alone does not prepare someone to provide useful support to officers.
Miami Beach has used ride-alongs with field training officers and time in dispatch to help civilian specialists understand patrol operations. Diaz recommended two to three weeks of ride-alongs on different shifts, along with exposure to dispatch workflows.
The goal is not to turn civilian staff into officers. It is to help them understand what patrol officers need from the RTIC, recognize behavior or circumstances that may matter during a call and communicate information clearly over the radio.
Diaz said that approach was particularly important for personnel hired from outside law enforcement. In one example, a new specialist saw activity on camera during spring break that turned out to be a three-card monte operation but did not initially recognize it. Ride-alongs and more exposure to patrol work helped build that operational knowledge, he said.
The department is now working to formalize training for its RTIC personnel. Diaz said Miami Beach is looking at Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a model and plans to incorporate scenario-based training, including exercises in city buildings where intelligence specialists can practice monitoring video and providing updates before they work real calls.
Buy technology only for verified needs
Diaz said Miami Beach initially kept its technology stack simple, relying on the video management system, CAD, LPR platforms and other systems it already had.
He waited about eight months before purchasing the unit’s first major new piece of equipment.
“The hardest lesson for me, as a young boss dealing with this emerging technology, was to say no. Politely,” Diaz said.
His advice to agencies was to ask vendors which nearby departments use a product, then call those departments directly. The goal is to learn how the technology performs in actual operations, where integrations are difficult and whether the product solves a problem the agency actually has.
That approach also applies to counter-UAS technology, Diaz said. Miami Beach received federal funding for the capability, but he cautioned that it is expensive and may not be a priority for every department. Agencies should consider the airspace, critical infrastructure and specific risks in their own communities before treating counter-UAS as an essential RTIC purchase.
Diaz also urged agencies to involve city IT early. The technical build-out of the RTIC and its network connections created challenges, he said, as did simply finding and preparing a suitable space for the center.
Use DFR to solve coverage gaps
Miami Beach launched its DFR program at the same time as the RTIC. Diaz said the city’s fixed-camera network was strong in the entertainment district and other hot spots, but DFR gave the department a way to provide a view in areas without camera coverage.
The department’s DFR system reached calls before officers 54% of the time, Diaz said. It also reduced the department’s need to request aviation assistance from surrounding agencies for some searches, missing-person cases and perimeter operations.
Miami Beach began with one dock and, according to Diaz, completed more than 1,000 missions with that drone in its first six months. The department later added a second dock.
“You don’t need to have DFR in every inch of your city,” Diaz said.
Agencies with funding for one system, he said, should identify a central hot spot and place the dock where it can address the most consistent need. Miami Beach’s docks are on city-owned property: the police station and a city parking garage.
Diaz said he prefers that approach over private partnerships, which can change and force agencies to relocate costly infrastructure.
Document results to guide growth
Miami Beach requires RTIC staff to document their work in a Smartsheet form that includes a brief narrative. Diaz said he compiles those reports by week and month so he can quickly provide command staff with examples of how the center supported operations.
He said that documentation helped Miami Beach make the case for additional personnel and DFR capability.
The RTIC has also become a command post during major events. Diaz said Miami Beach now invites fire command, code enforcement and parking enforcement into the center when appropriate.
During a structure fire before a college football playoff event, the department launched a drone and provided its thermal view to a fire battalion chief in the RTIC. Diaz said the chief used that information to direct crews at the scene.
The first year did not give Miami Beach a finished RTIC. It gave the department a process for deciding what to build next: Start with the data and infrastructure already available, define the work staff must perform during an incident, train people for that work, document the results and invest further only when the operational need is clear.
Prior to joining Lexipol in 2017, Nancy served as an editor for emergency medical services publications and communities for 22 years, during which she received a Jesse H. Neal award. In 2022, she was honored with the prestigious G.D. Crain Award at the annual Jesse H. Neal Awards Ceremony. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Sussex in England and a master’s degree in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. Ask questions or submit ideas to Nancy by e-mailing nperry@lexipol.com.