Asheville police open intelligence center to public tours and questions

Asheville police opened the door to one of the city’s most controversial public-safety projects Thursday, inviting residents to tour the developing Real Time Intelligence Center and question how the system would work before it becomes fully operational.

The Asheville Police Department said the bi-weekly sessions will run from 2 to 4 p.m. over the next several months. Police are pitching the tours as education and engagement, a chance for people to see the technology behind the center, including drones, license plate readers, and the other systems that will feed information into the RTIC at APD headquarters on Court Plaza.

City leaders have framed the center as a way to give officers real-time information during emergencies and major incidents. The system is designed to integrate existing surveillance tools so officers can respond faster and piece together what is happening as calls unfold. Interim Chief Jackie Stepp has said the software could search camera feeds for weapons, vehicles, and personal descriptors, while also saying APD would not use facial recognition.

The public-facing tours come after a tense political fight. Asheville City Council approved about $1,141,256 in federal funding for the RTIC on May 12 after postponing the item in April amid public opposition. The award came through U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ office under the Justice Department’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grants program, and the city says there is no local funding match. Council approved it 6-1, with Kim Roney casting the lone dissent.

Critics have said the city still has not answered basic questions about privacy, data security, immigration enforcement access, and the long-term costs of running the center. Roney, who was elected to council in 2020, argued the city moved ahead without the usual committee review and community advisory steps, and public comment at the May vote was crowded and emotional.

The debate is not happening in a vacuum. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office has operated its own RTIC since 2023, and Asheville police have already accessed and shared data with that county system. The sheriff’s office says its center was initially funded with forfeiture dollars rather than tax dollars, and it also offers a free camera registry and an optional community camera-sharing program through Fusus CORE devices.

For Asheville, the tours are more than a public relations effort. They are an early test of whether the city can persuade skeptical residents that a surveillance hub built with federal money will improve safety without expanding police power beyond what the public is willing to accept.