Brookhaven communities can now install cameras and give access to the police department in the incident of a crime.
“The camera must be purchased and installed by the community,” said District 1 Council Representative Linley Jones. All maintenance and upkeep of the cameras is the responsibility of the neighborhood or the business that installs them.
Jones is an advocate of the program. Once a neighborhood or business installs the camera, they can voluntarily choose to give access to the footage to the Brookhaven Police Department.
“If a crime is committed, police would be able to immediately access a video,” she said. “You skip the steps of someone having to send in the video or download the video.”
Jones stresses, however, that the footage is not regularly monitored by the Brookhaven Police Department.
“It’s consulted by the police in the event of a crime,” she said.
The pre-authorized access makes the investigation process much quicker, and it could potentially help the police catch more criminals with more eyes on the streets.
“We are really hoping that communities will take advantage of the opportunity to have these cameras installed,” Jones said.
The program is still very new, though, and the police department hopes to make it more useful.
“It’s kind of premature,” said Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura.
According to Yandura, there is currently one neighborhood that has given the police pre-authorized access to video footage in the case of a crime. He explained that this system works better for the department.
“There’s no way we could monitor a bunch of our own cameras,” Yandura said. “But the more information we have, the safer everyone is.”
The department is also working to create a database and a map of the cameras they will have access to in town. This map will help detectives know where they can get footage quickly without as much hassle. Just last week, Yandura said, a citizen provided footage from their business’ camera of someone breaking into several cars. Instances like these can help solve crimes faster.
The cameras themselves can also help change a criminal’s mind.
“Just the fact that they’re there is sometimes a deterrent,” he said.
Yandura hopes to get the mapping and database complete within the next couple months. Communities interested in granting the Brookhaven Police Department access to cameras can contact community outreach liaison Sgt. Justin Young at justin.young@brookhavenga.gov or 404-637-0616.
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