Atlanta police's high-tech cameras helping catch criminals

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department has 8,000 surveillance cameras, including 130 license plate readers that monitor various parts of the metro area 24/7.

Channel 2 Action News first gave you an inside look at the department's Video Integration Center in June, now we're learning "The VIC" as it’s called, has led to several arrests.

"Anytime we can get a repeat offender off the streets, it's beneficial to our crime-fighting," said Atlanta Police Sgt. Warren Pickard.

The department recently arrested Darren Mitchell and his accomplice Sossity McConville on Feb. 4.
Mitchell, wanted for armed robbery, is accused of stealing a black Mercedes from the valet at the Hudson Grill along Peachtree in December.

Police tell Channel 2 the suspect tricked the valet into giving him the keys to someone else's vehicle.

Channel 2's Nefertiti Jacquez couldn't track down the victim, who is a woman who lives in Florida, but she talked to a witness who said Mitchell acted casually as he took off.

"I think the guy we are talking about, who stole this Mercedes, is a different type of bad guy. He wasn't covering his face up," the victim told Channel 2’s Nefertiti Jaquez.

The suspect was later caught after being captured on camera. Detectives said they got a hit from a license plate camera near Lindbergh Drive and zeroed in on the stolen Mercedes.

Mitchell and McConville were taken into custody. But they're not the only ones police have managed to track down.

Jacquez pulled crime numbers in Atlanta to see how the cameras help capture criminals. Since Jan. 1, police officers in Zone 2 have managed to nab 10 suspects in total.

“I don't think a camera is going to prohibit [suspects] from committing the crime. It's just going to be a resource for us to apprehend those who commit crimes,” said Pickard.

Cox Media Group