Politics & Government

Public Safety Cameras Bring Spectre of 'Big Brother' to Mind

The Alpharetta City Council considers costs, privacy issues after hearing proposal.

Director Gary George presented a proposal to create a public safety camera system in the city so dispatchers and commanders can see incidents in real time and to review crime scenes.

However, City Council members were concerned with privacy issues and the ongoing costs to maintain a camera system.

George brought the proposal to the council's meeting at for discussion. The city would use the fiber optics network used by the city's Engineering and Public Works Department to send data from cameras in the city. Private corporations' camera systems could be added to the system in the future, with their permission. Subdivision security cameras could be added to the system also. , added cameras after a .

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Bob Carter of Iron Sky showed City Council what the company has done in Sandy Springs, Midtown and other metro Atlanta cities by logging onto the Iron Sky system via a web browser. Council members got to see live video feeds from cameras in those cities, and information loaded onto a map showing where patrol cars and fire engines were responding.

Jim Paine wanted to know what the annual expense of operating the proposed camera system in Alpharetta would be. Councilman Chris Owens said he saw in the proposal that the cost would be $60,000.

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"I'm going to go ahead and use the word that I know is on people's minds, Big Brother comes to mind," said Owens. "One of the things that concerns me greatly is we're giving up some freedom in exchange for security. And how do we manage that balance, and how do we do it responsibly?"

Owens also was concerned about passwords not being changed or being passed around, opening up privacy concerns.

Councilman Donald Mitchell wanted to know how success would be measured with the system, and how that compares to patrol cars driving through those areas.

Sandy Springs Police Chief Terry Sult said deterrence and community satisfaction are measures of success. He said the purpose of his city's system is to give police and fire officials–and even utility companies–a view of a crisis scene such as a shooter in a school or a fire.

Mayor Arthur Letchas, whose term ends at the end of the year, said "I think this is the way of the future, the way to protect your citizenry, but you are going to have to make those decisions down the road."


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