The RPDF and city officials join forces to up DTR safety.
Downtown Raleigh’s parking decks are getting a next-level safety upgrade. The Raleigh Police Department Foundation recently funded Connect Raleigh, a citywide system linking public and private cameras to the Real Time Crime Center. Now, the initiative is expanding with new cameras across DTR parking decks—one smart move to make Raleigh’s streets, sidewalks and parking areas safer through faster response times, broader visibility and smarter policing.
“Installing security cameras in our city’s parking decks would significantly enhance public safety and support law enforcement efforts across Raleigh,” remarks RPD Lieutenant David Davis. “By linking these cameras to our Real Time Crime Center, detectives and responding officers would have the ability to monitor situations as they unfold, providing crucial, real-time intelligence.”
Launched in 2022, the RPD Foundation funds what the city budget cannot—from new technologies to officer wellness initiatives to community engagement. “We’re here to help do whatever we can to make Raleigh a safer city,” says Foundation founder and board chair Brenda Gibson. “We heard from other police foundations that this camera system was a game changer for safety.”
The cameras are part of a multistage rollout that pairs the Foundation’s investment in technology with the city’s ongoing infrastructure upgrades. The first installations at Moore Square and Charter Square garages are set to go live by late December or early January. “In total, it will be in the hundreds,” says Assistant City Manager Michael Moore. “Police can’t be everywhere all at once, and this is really going to be a force multiplier.”
Once up and running, the integrated system will allow RPD to tap into a wider network of footage from both city and community cameras—a move that could make Downtown feel more connected and secure for residents and visitors alike. Smarter tech. Safer streets. Stronger city.
Through this contract, Darkhouse will conduct an analysis of the current state of the fire department, as well as develop a master plan to improve apparatus and response times, with the goal to forecast trends as the city expands—not only in terms of boundaries, but as the population density in certain areas increases.
“We want to have a third party come in and evaluate the fire department as it stands right now,” emphasizes RFD Division Chief Patrick Marks. “We want to make sure we are exercising the best practice on our deployment model—[with the] right fire stations and apparatus in the right places to do the best we can with what we have.”
Visualizing the fire safety situation, the city developed maps using analysis software to highlight areas on par with the minimum qualifications met in green, and areas lacking in apparatus and staffing marked in orange and red. (Note: Every district has at least one red area needing attention—namely Six Forks Road, along with Northwest and Southeast Raleigh).
Analysis is slated to wrap up within at least a year in hopes of having City Council approve the report before next year’s city budget is finalized to then implement those recommendations.
If you’ve ever stepped off the curb to cross the street Downtown and feared for your life—you’re not alone. And, now, the city has a solution. An absolute game-changer for pedestrian and bike safety, Raleigh leaders are reducing the speed limit from 35 to 25 mph on all streets between Glenwood Avenue and East Street, and Peace Street to just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard—including seeming raceways Dawson and McDowell. The change will also eliminate all turns on red and double turn lanes. The Downtown Pedestrian Safety Project is the result of a Downtown Raleigh Pedestrian Safety Study ordered in 2019 by Gov. Roy Cooper after a state worker was killed walking at the intersection of McDowell and Lane streets. Additionally, over the past 15 years, 335 pedestrian crashes have been reported in DTR—42% of which are the result of vehicles hitting pedestrians crossing the street, according to data from the NCDOT.
