A new public safety initiative in Arlington will allow participating residents and businesses to share surveillance camera footage with law enforcement.
The Arlington Police Department (APD) announced the official launch of “Connect Arlington” earlier this week. Through this initiative, residents and businesses can help fight crime by facilitating the sharing of their surveillance footage with police.
“When a crime occurs, the suspect isn’t usually waiting at the scene for officers to arrive,” explained Deputy Chief Steve Williams, according to a news release. “Our chances of finding and taking that suspect into custody increase exponentially the sooner we’re able to identify them or their vehicle. That’s why we’re hopeful our residents and businesses will embrace Connect Arlington.”
APD released a video explaining exactly how Connect Arlington operates.
Connect Arlington works differently depending on whether the device is registered or integrated, with APD recommending the former for private individuals and the latter for businesses or organizations. Cameras can be registered for free using an address and contact information.
When a crime occurs, APD’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) will immediately know what security camera footage might be available to view in the vicinity. If a camera is identified as potentially having useful information, the device’s owner will be contacted, and the owner will be asked to upload the footage for law enforcement personnel to review. Police will not have access to live or unfiltered footage of private surveillance.
This is different in the case of integration. Here, device owners can opt to integrate their devices directly into the RTCC using a FususCORE device, which must be purchased via Connect Arlington. This option allows police direct and live access to footage, but owners can still determine which cameras are accessible and which are not.
As of January 23, 285 cameras have been registered with Connect Arlington, while 195 more have been integrated using a fususCORE device.
This collaboration between law enforcement and the community is what Fusus CEO Christopher Lindenau called a crucial component in boosting public safety efforts.
“Part of building trust with the community is engagement,” Lindenau said, per the news release. “What we’ve seen across the country with agencies that start these types of programs is their community engagement increases. When it comes to public safety, change is best done in concert with those who you are trying to protect as a joint initiative.”
Fosus rolled out its platform for integrated monitoring programs in 2019 and has since forged contracts with more than 70 police departments around the country, with annual subscription fees starting from around $20,000.
More information about the FususCORE device can be found here on the Georgia-based vendor’s website.
