Marion Couty ROC has eyes all over Indy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - An $18 million investment that is designed to keep the bad guys at bay during the Super Bowl and keep the city safe long after the big game is over opened at the old Eastgate Mall in Indianapolis. If it happens anywhere in Marion County, they'll know about it in the Regional Operations Center.

"We're using technology here that's never been used in any major event. Cameras, iPhones, iPads." says Marion County Public Safety Director Frank Straub.

The ROC, as its known, will serve Marion County for the next 25 years and for the next two weeks will be the security hub for the Super Bowl. Eighty-five cameras will be monitored here, focusing on faces and events as they unfold.

If there's a fire alarm anywhere, they'll know it here.

Officers’ specific locations will be tracked via a giant screen. Smart phones and tablets carried by cops will send back ground level pictures of problems without anyone knowing. And this digital sandbox, as it's called, will see everything in real-time.

"To date, this will be the most technologically secure Super Bowl in the history of the Super Bowl," Straub said.

Inside the ROC, Lucas Oil Stadium gets its own set of cameras. And they've been working with a special software program to answer an important question, says Gary Coons, Chief of Marion County Homeland Security.

"How long it takes for the last person to get out of the stadium in the case of an evacuation." In all, they estimate 10-15 minutes to get 68,000 out of the bowl.

Last minute work is still going on here and a problem with radios made some noise this week. But city, state and federal safety and security leaders say the "ROC" is ready to roll.

You the tax payers are paying off the bonds that financed the Regional Operations Center over the next 25 years. Eventually it will be used by surrounding counties as needed. While the center will be in full operation only for major events, or significant weather problems, it will be manned 24/7/365.