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OGDEN — For the past seven months, Nigel Itson and his wife have been working hard to get their new business off the ground. They recently opened Union Station Fermentation on Ogden's historic 25th Street.
They moved here from out of state, hearing how Ogden's reputation is getting better.
"People want to feel comfortable when they come down here to have dinner and bring their families, they want to feel comfortable," Nigel Itson said," so any way to make it safer, I'm all for it."
That's why he's really for Ogden's new Real Time Crime Center. "This is probably as futuristic as it gets in law enforcement," said Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner.
Inside a room, officers monitor calls. When one comes in, they relay information to field officers heading to the call. That way, those field officers will know the history of an address, or person, or anything relating to that address or caller, before getting there.
"That's a help to them, kind of a guiding hand behind the scenes to give them information that's of real value and not just flood them with information," said Dave Weloth, of the Ogden Police Department.
Ten different databases are used to gather information and sort statistics. Officers inside can also look at some 200 cameras, which are constantly recording to help with investigations.
"(We want to) improve the speed at which we follow up on investigations and improve our chances at solving crimes," Weloth said.
It may seem a little "Big Brother-ish," but Nigel Itson says if it keeps people safer, he's OK with it.
"It's a little bit of an inconvenience for a whole lot of peace of mind," he said. "It's great for me."
As an example of how much Ogden's new system could change law enforcement, Chief Greiner was a Homeland Security meeting last week talking about it. He already has 600 requests from other departments to see how it works.
Email: acabrero@ksl.com
