Customer Stories
Miami Beach is a city of contrasts: neon lights and ocean breezes, late-night energy and early morning calm. But behind the vibrancy of Ocean Drive, a steady transformation is reshaping how the city keeps people safe.
Miami Beach Police Department Chief Wayne Jones said, “I have, for a long time envisioned, dreamt about leveraging technology for us to work smarter, more efficiently as an organization. I never dreamt it would be what it has become so quickly, and what it means to us operationally. Quite frankly, retrospectively, I don't understand how we've been so successful at what we've done in the past without this type of technology.”
While officers patrol the streets, they now have backup in the form of a citywide network of cameras, drones, and live video feeds—all working together to enhance how incidents are identified, assessed, and responded to. But as Chief Jones stated, it wasn’t always this way.
Over the past decade, as technology evolved, so did policing—shifting from a radio-and-notebook operation, to CAD systems, then to a fully-networked command environment.
Lieutenant Eduardo Garcia has been with Miami Beach PD since 2004 and has witnessed the entire evolution firsthand. Reflecting on the early days of patrol response, he says, “Prior to body-worn cameras and other technology, you got a call, you were dispatched. You had CAD so you could see some notes, but that was about it.”
At MBPD, change came in steady waves. First came body-worn cameras. Then came GPS and vehicle tracking. Supervisors gained the ability to see unit locations in real time, monitor video feeds, and even go live to assess high-risk incidents remotely. “I can’t respond from the station 40 blocks away in ten seconds,” Garcia admits. “But I can definitely click in and look. If I see something unusual, I can jump on the radio and say, ‘This is what’s happening.’”
But the department’s real leap forward came when it launched its Real-Time Intelligence Center, or RTIC. What once served primarily as a post-incident tool—hundreds of surveillance cameras and license plate readers—was turned into a real-time resource for frontline decision-making. Lieutenant Raymond Diaz, who joined the effort in October, was tasked with building the RTIC from scratch. “When I got here, it was just a few empty cubicles and one intel specialist. We onboarded two more just in time for spring break, and that’s when we really saw what the RTIC could do.”
Before the RTIC, the city’s 1,600-plus cameras were mostly useful after the fact. Now, they’re integrated into live workflows. As soon as a call comes in, RTIC specialists can access camera feeds, correct caller reports, and provide up-to-the-second updates to responding officers. “You might hear, ‘There’s a melee at 9th and Ocean,’” Diaz explains. “We pull up the feed—it’s not a melee. It’s two people arguing in an alley. That kind of precision makes all the difference.”
In one case, a Drone as First Responder was able to locate a suspect and guide patrol units to make the arrest. In another, during a minor fender bender, a drone operator used the onboard speaker to clear the scene. “Our drone pilot flew in low, about a hundred feet,” Diaz recalls. “He announced, ‘Please clear the roadway,’ and the vehicles moved off. We prevented a traffic jam without ever sending a car.”
While Miami Beach already boasts an average response time of under two minutes, the department emphasizes that the goal isn’t just speed—it’s quality. “What we take from all this technology is better information before we get there. It helps us manage resources smarter.” Low-priority calls can now be rerouted or canceled before an officer ever arrives, saving time and reducing strain on the system. “If the call turns out to be unfounded, we cancel it. That’s 15 minutes of time that goes right back to the street”.
Recently, that real-time visibility proved critical during an incident involving serious injuries that required a multi-agency response. Chief Jones recalls: “I saw that rescue in real time happening. I saw my Marine Patrol officer get on scene, and not taking the time to don on his air tanks and goggles, and just diving into the water. I heard him in real time when he came out of the water and got on the radio. I knew very soon that there were going to be multiple fatalities as a result of that incident. All in real time, drone hovering overhead, showing video in real time—it was just incredible. And that would not have been possible a year ago.”
The RTIC didn’t just capture what was happening—it guided the response. Chief Jones said, “In more ways than we imagined. It helped in setting up officers along the causeway to help mitigate traffic, hold traffic as fire rescue personnel were able to respond to the scene. And then, take the injured, from that scene directly to the trauma center, because from the RTIC, people were being given positions. And you can see it happening in real time.”
Adoption didn’t happen overnight. Like many agencies, MBPD members were skeptical as new tools were introduced. But as they began to help resolve complaints, improve safety, and reduce time on scene, officer buy-in followed. “They’ve seen the benefits,” Diaz says. “Now they see us as partners in the field, not just eyes behind a screen.”
Looking ahead, the department is working to integrate public and private video sources into one unified platform, Axon Fusus—helping to close blind spots and broaden visibility citywide. “That’s the next step,” Diaz says. “We’re building a system that works not just for us, but for the entire community.”
Chief Jones adds, “Never imagined in my life we would get to the point where we are using technology, in our RTIC, that’s just beyond my comprehension. I can’t imagine what police work is going to be like 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now, as technology continues to evolve, as technology continues to help us be better at what we do at any given time. I’m really excited about the future. Don’t know what that really looks like - but given where we are today, I can only imagine.”
From drones in the sky to specialists behind the scenes, Miami Beach PD isn’t just moving faster—it’s transforming the very nature of incident response.
In a city famous for its bright lights and nightlife, the glow that matters most now comes from screens inside the RTIC—showing a clearer picture of what’s happening on the ground—before anyone even arrives.