On Thursday, September 8, Mayor Dyer and newly appointed Police Chief Eric D. Smith joined City Commissioners to launch a new public safety project they’re calling Orlando Connect.
Orlando Police is hoping to leverage the new Orlando Connect program to integrate city-owned cameras and privately-owned cameras from voluntary participants together into a new public/private network to reduce crime in the City Beautiful.
“As a future-ready city, we are always looking at how we can leverage emerging technology in a way that benefits our residents and businesses,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “This new program does just that, while also furthering our efforts to keep Orlando safe in the ever-changing world we live in.”
The Orlando Connect network is currently comprised of over 1,100 city-owned cameras that are installed across the city, that are all on view at the OPD’s Crime Center, and can be accessed live by officers on their cellphones and laptops when responding to public safety situations before they arrive on the scene.
At the press conference, the mayor announced that businesses and residents who would like the join the program currently have two options:
- Register their private security cameras with OPD so law enforcement knows who to contact when looking for video footage that can help solve a crime.
- Integrate their live video feeds directly from their cameras to the police, which will give them immediate access.
The program will only accept video feeds from private cameras that are located where the public has access to be and where there is no expectation of privacy related to that space. You can click HERE for the OPD’s Public Safety Camera Network Policy. Or you can panic and read this Orlando Weekly post. You do you.
Click HERE to join the Orlando Connect program and register or integrate camera systems, or if your business is located in the Downtown CRA boundaries, you can apply for a grant program to assist with the purchase of a security camera to join the Orlando Connect program free of charge.
