ORLANDO, Fla. — On Monday, Orlando city leaders approved funding for a new crime center for Orlando Police. Police say the new center will help them better fight, investigate and prevent crime throughout the city.
- City leaders approved $300,000 for crime center, citywide cameras
- Cameras to be placed only in public viewing areas with crime prevention in mind
- More Orange County stories
Thanks to city leaders approving nearly $300,000 in funding, police say they’ll be able to use cameras posted throughout the city in real-time to spot crimes.
Officials say in addition to adding more cameras the agency will have more people watching those cameras.
The hope is in some cases they’ll spot a problem and be able to send first responders that way before anyone even has a chance to call in a report to police.
“So we can respond quicker, faster with more resources available in that specific area that we’re going to,” said Orlando Police Lieutenant Jay Draisin.
Orlando Police hope integrating their cameras and other equipment together into the new crime center will help them not only be able to catch crime on camera, but eventually study trends and prevent future crime.
However, residents have expressed concern in the past about police cameras. In response to those concerns, an Orlando Police spokesperson said
“We are always extremely conscientious of people's privacy," a spokesperson said in response to those concerns. "All cameras are placed only in public viewing areas to address a current crime problem or with crime prevention in mind.”