Real Time Crime Center aids Gastonia Police in locating missing 16-year-old

GASTONIA, N.C. — Gastonia Police located a missing 16-year-old with special needs on Monday night using the department’s Real Time Crime Center.

The teenager had been missing for approximately one hour near Hudson Boulevard before being spotted on a surveillance camera.

The Real Time Crime Center, which opened in September, uses a network of cameras to help officers locate suspects and people in need.

Police officials said the technology allows them to monitor scenes in real time from miles away, providing a faster response than traditional search methods.

The search began on a cool Monday night after police received a report that the teenager had been missing for one hour.

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The Real Time Crime Center allows officers to coordinate with analysts who monitor camera feeds from across the city.

Sgt. Michael Watts, a veteran officer with the Gastonia Police Department, said the technology provides a direct link between dispatch calls and visual evidence.

“We can click on the call for service, and it will take us to the actual place on the map,” Watts said. While an analyst watched the area through the cameras, the child eventually stepped into the frame.

Watts, who is also a father, described the emotional weight of the search. “If that was my child out there, I would be a nervous wreck,” Watts said. He noted that the child was located safe and unharmed.

“As a parent, I felt really good to know that this kid was safe and unharmed, and I think any parent can relate to the feeling that I felt,” Watts said.

Before the center opened in September, police looking for a missing person typically had to use a large number of officers to search a neighborhood manually.

Watts said the new system is more efficient than previous methods. “We are able to get eyes on scenes quicker,” Watts said.

While the surveillance system is often used to track vehicles, Watts noted that it is particularly effective for finding people on foot.

“With vehicles, they can get out of an area pretty quickly versus a child that’s walking,” Watts said. One camera captured the child from 2.5 miles away, allowing an officer to monitor every movement.

The use of Flock and Ring camera systems has recently faced criticism from community members concerned about privacy and constant police surveillance.

Jamie Hudson of Flock Safety addressed these concerns by explaining that the systems are not used for general monitoring.

“There are no agencies out there that have the personnel that can ther and sift through and take the time to just watch random people,” Hudson said.

Flock representatives stated that law enforcement agencies must hire and train employees to manage recorded data ethically.

Additionally, Ring is introducing a “Familiar Faces” feature intended to reduce notifications for routine activities, though some residents remain concerned about being recorded without consent.

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