The police are urging the city council to give the green light to the FUSUS program

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We often hear people say that police need your help with a criminal investigation.

They are the eyes and ears of the community, so it makes sense.

According to Metro Nashville Police, you can also help while a crime is being committed.

On Tuesday I visited the impressive Community Safety Center at Metro Police headquarters. It opened in April and is staffed for around 20 hours every day of the week.

In its Real-Time Crime Center, Metro Police can pull up a nearby public safety camera when a crime occurs and tell officers in that area what they see. There are 140 public safety cameras in Davidson County.

“If you have a camera and get an accurate description, you can also send the image or video to the officer so they can see it for themselves. That’s who I need to stop, so they stop that one person instead of interacting with them.” 15-20 people. They only interact with one person,” said Deputy Chief Greg Blair.

When Deputy Chief Greg Blair started with the Metro Nashville Police Department, he would have given anything for these tools.

“We don’t want to build a case on witness statements. “We want to base it on hard facts and what’s better than a picture or a video,” Blair said.

Through a platform called FUSUS, Metro Police can access public and private cameras through the same system. Police can only view cameras on private property where the owner has voluntarily agreed to participate.

“They set the parameters for it, they set the retention, how long we can withhold the video or retrieve the video. You can leave the relationship at any time… We need to help each other stay safe. “The strength lies in numbers,” he said.

According to Connect Nashville, more than 1,100 private cameras are already registered.

The police do not currently use FUSUS. To continue using FUSUS, Metro Police will need approval of a new contract from the Metro Council.

At this time, police are asking businesses and commercial properties to share their feeds or at least register their cameras. By registering, the police know that you can be contacted if video from the area is needed.

“I think everyone thinks we’re watching everything everyone does. That’s impossible. You’ve seen this room here. There is no way we can watch what everyone is doing. We focus on people who are victims,” he said.

Next Tuesday, October 15, Metro Police will ask the Metro Council to recommit to this program.