Atlanta police chief says new way to catch criminals is “game-changer”

ATLANTA — The Atlanta police chief says he has a new way to catch criminals that could be a game-changer.

On Wednesday, Chief Rodney Bryant announced a new upgrade to Atlanta Police’s 10-year-old video surveillance system that he said “will be a game-changer for us.”

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston was there as the department showcased new technology that can integrate city, business and residential cameras no matter what system they are on in real time.

“This will give us the ability to take a look at incidences throughout our city with much more camera impact and respond more quickly,” Bryant said.

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The new system, which was developed by a Peachtree Corners company called Fusus, can also send video from nearby cameras to officers in their patrol cars, so they know exactly what the scene looks like before they get there.

In about a year, Fusus could give APD access to 30,000 real-time cameras and share multiple video feeds to different parts of the city.

“What’s important to me downtown may differ from what they’re seeing in zone 5 and zone 6,” Bryant said.

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Bryant said this is where the public can help.

You can register for free your video doorbell or business camera with them at www.connectAtlanta.org. They will still need your permission to access that video and won’t be able to see your cameras without your permission.

“I want to be clear: This isn’t us peering into their system. This is them giving us the ability to do so at their will,” Bryant said.

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Residents and businesses can go one step further and integrate their cameras with APD’s real-time crime center, which will allow them to access these cameras when there is a crime.

Bryant said he expects that tool to be used primarily by businesses.

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