ATLANTA, Georgia - July 19, 2011 - Big Brother is coming to Atlanta. Or is it a watchful eye that will make walking city streets safer?
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council approved a measure to network and monitor thousands of public and privately owned security cameras throughout Atlanta.
The cameras and images will be part of a new multi-million dollar video integration center, designed to compile and analyze footage from the network.
To start, images from as many as 500 cameras - some city-owned and some private - are expected to flow into the center, providing images from Piedmont Park to Underground Atlanta. The center will use software that can identify "suspicious" behavior and allow monitors to quickly deploy public safety personnel. The software is also capable of pinpointing where gunshots originate.
The center is being built by a $2.6 million federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The Atlanta Police Foundation - which funds the camera network operated by the Midtown Blue, a private security agency - is also raising money to operate the center. The city has not determined yet how much it will cost to operate the center annually, but the Council is committed to establishing virtually blanket video monitoring of the city.
“I am in full support of increased eyes on the streets,” said Ivory Lee Young, chairman of the council’s public safety committee. “[Atlanta Police] Chief Turner expressed early on that this was a way to supplement enforcement with technology. This is a way to operate smarter.”
Others are conflicted, worried about the camera network's impact on privacy.
"I have very mixed feelings about it," said Marsha Guobadia, a Sandy Springs resident. " I want my family to feel safe and protected. The question is how far is too far in protecting citizens, but possibly infringing on those citizens' privacy?"
