Real Time Information Center Director Bill Schwartz shares the features and technology that the department has available to help solve crimes and improve public safety.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — The Chicopee Police Department, with support from the mayor’s office and Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, hosted a press conference on Feb. 18 to introduce the department’s Real Time Information Center.
Mayor John Vieau, interim Police Chief Eric Watson, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi and RTIC Director Bill Schwartz were among the many who shared information and benefits of the RTIC.
The RTIC, which was founded in 2025, aims to strengthen the department’s ability to organize, verify and share critical information during serious incidents and investigations. The center provides real-time operational support, investigative assistance and crime analysis, serving as a centralized hub where information can be rapidly accessed, analyzed and shared.
The operations center covers any public safety matter from major to minor and operates on an incident driven model. Camera systems, digital evidence tools and investigative databases are used only to support active incidents, emergencies or investigations.
The system also incorporates the use of artificial intelligence to help the analysts work with the officers to try to identify a person or vehicle report in a crime. Analysts can also step in to help communicate with other officers during a pursuit.
From left: Mayor John Vieau talks about how the Real Time Information Center can help improve the safety for those who live in Chicopee. Acting Chief Eric Watson talks about the department’s Real Time Information Center and how it helps serve the community and officers. Sheriff Nick Cocchi shares his thoughts on the importance of the Real Time Information Center.
Reminder Publishing photos by Tyler Garnet
Watson had a message for residents who think the technology could be an invasion of people’s privacy.
“We’re not here to monitor the cameras and surveil anybody,” he explained. “We’re responding to public safety emergencies. It’s not something that [the analysts] are staring at, looking at. We’re not looking at any private areas. Everywhere where those cameras look are somewhere where we could be out on the street and watching.”
Watson also discussed another public safety initiative that allows businesses and/or residents to share their cameras with the RTIC. He said Connect Chicopee is the city’s next generation neighborhood watch. It is 100% voluntary with two ways to participate.
Residents can register their camera to let the RTIC know that it exists and where it is located. The registration creates a way for the RTIC or investigators to request that the owner review or voluntarily provide footage if a serious incident occurs nearby.
Residents can also integrate the camera, which means live access can be enabled for a specific public safety purpose. Access is limited to public-facing areas and only to specific cameras that the owner agrees to make available.
Registered cameras do not provide live access, and integrated cameras are not monitored on a routine basis.
Readers interested in registering or integrating a camera system with the Chicopee Police Department or to learn more about Connect Chicopee, can visit connectchicopee.org and follow the instructions.
Watson said, “Even if you don’t want to integrate cameras, we’d like you to register them so we can send a message to you, ‘hey something happened on your street, can you check your cameras for it?’”
Watson said they are also working to integrate the schools’ cameras and have a “good” framework for a memorandum of understanding to allow the department to use the outside cameras for public safety purposes and the inside cameras for public safety emergencies.
Schwartz, Vieau and Watson all mentioned their hopes for the RTIC serving as a regional example. They said they hope other agencies can either join or integrate their cameras to help support overall public safety.
Watson emphasized the importance of video for solving a crime. “The data is clear, video is the single most powerful predictor of whether a crime will be solved,” he stated. He further explained that locating any video associated with a case increases the odds of a resolution by over 400%. If that video captures the incident itself, those odds jump to over 600%. Even context like a “fleeing vehicle” makes the department 300% more likely to solve the case.
The RTIC features several staff members, including Director William Schwartz — a detective — an IT support position and four analysts, three of whom are embedded at the operation’s center thanks to the Hampden County Sherrif’s Department.
Cocchi shared his thoughts on why the center is so important in Chicopee and Western Massachusetts.
“Today represents what modern, responsible public safety looks like,” he said. “Partnership, technology used the right way, and a shared commitment to protecting our communities.
Across the country, more than 150 real-time crime centers are operating, and the number continues to grow. Cocchi said, “That number continues to grow because the results are clear, faster investigations, better evidence preservation and stronger accountability.”
Many success stories were shared throughout the event where the RTIC and technology helped expedite a situation. Watson shared one where the analysts resolved a missing person case in just 10 minutes. The individual had been wandering around Chicopee for 36 hours, and the analysts were able to locate him before the officer could even finish the report.
There were other instances shared where robberies were also quickly solved after the victim reported the incident.
Vieau stated, “What we’ve learned about crime is it doesn’t have boundaries. Here in the city of Chicopee, we want to make sure that when you put your head down on your pillow at night, you feel safe, and I believe that’s what we’re doing. I want all the bad guys to know that if you come to Chicopee, you’re not getting away with a crime. That’s really the message that I hope everyone hears.”
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