ATLANTA — Atlanta's Piedmont Park is about to get a camera surveillance system, Channel 2 Action News reporter Diana Davis has learned.
Eight cameras monitored by the Atlanta Police Department will be switched on by the first of May. They're being installed this week as a way to deter crime.
Former Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver is behind the project. She tried for years to get the city to fund the cameras. When it wouldn't, she used her city expense money she'd saved while in office.
"You get a certain amount every year and you can spend it in your district or you can spend it for things you have to go to, and I'm a squirrel, so mine, I decided, was going to go to this," said Fauver.
She wrote a check for $50,000 and another $50,000 was matched by The Piedmont Driving Club in exchange for an easement the club needed, said Channel 2's Davis.
"The police applied for a grant to put about four hundred cameras citywide," said Fauver. "They didn't get the grant, but this is a great way to extend the manpower, because you can sit in one spot and cover so much more than if you were out on the street."
The park cameras will be similar to the ones already used by Midtown Blue on city streets. Midtown said its surveillance camera system has resulted in 700 arrests since it was installed in 2005.
The Piedmont cameras will be monitored around-the-clock and it is hoped the new technology will deter crime and catch criminals, said Fauver.
"Oh it's a great thing," said park visitor Marcus Sanders. "Definitely makes me feel safer running around here in the morning or late at night."
WSBTV
