'Eyes on the street:' Gastonia police receive federal grant for surveillance system
The Gastonia Police Department received nearly $1 million in federal grant money for a sophisticated surveillance system that would use hundreds of cameras around the city to help police monitor streets and public spaces for crime.
The police department received $963,000 that will allow them to turn a room in the police department into a Real Time Crime Center, said Tonya Taylor, who will be the center's director.
Police leadership hope to have the center operational by February 2025.
Essentially, Taylor said, the center will consist of several monitors and a wall of 16 screens that will be connected to the cameras placed around the city. There are currently about 400 cameras already in use, and the police department plans to add more. Police also will be able to access surveillance footage from businesses if the businesses choose to opt in.
"We are wanting to partner with the community, and so people who have different businesses that have different cameras, we will have the ability to have them share their camera feeds to us if they would like. There would be different permissions settings for that kind of software," she said. "They'll be able to give us permission any time, … or only when they toggle a button, or they'll be able to give us permission if there's an alarm at their business. If an alarm goes off, we can immediately respond and not wait until there's been damage done after the fact."
The feeds will be monitored by detectives and crime analysts.
Police intend to watch public gathering spaces like parks, the area around the Eastridge Mall, and busy intersections like the one near the businesses on Cox Road, Taylor said.
The software police will use may include facial recognition technology. It will also allow police to set alerts for missing people or incidents at intersections, and the cameras will be able to acquire clear images of license plates, so people who drive away after committing a crime can be more easily located.
"So initially, it will be another set of eyes out on the street, lots of eyes on the street," Taylor said.
Police spokesman Bill McGinty said that the system also could be used to alert officers about storm damage, like the widespread damage after the two tornadoes that tore through Gaston County last week.
"When we see damage happening, we know exactly where it is. … If power lines are down, we can relay the information to officers on the scene. It helps us get resources to a scene faster and more accurately," he said.
Police Chief Trent Conard said that the system will make the community safer.
"This nearly one-million-dollar federal grant will benefit the taxpayers and residents of Gastonia and Gaston County by making this area a better and safer place to live," he said. "We live here because our quality of life is good. Our neighborhoods are safe, and our schools are safe. We believe Gastonia is a great place to raise a family, so we are investing heavily in its future."
U.S. Congressman Jeff Jackson, who presented the grant in a press conference last week, said that Gastonia in total will receive nearly $2.5 million: $960,000 for a new Apple Creek Corporate Park sewer upgrade and another $500,000 for housing rehabilitation for low income homeowners in Gastonia.
"We had a lot of folks request funding from my office. This project rose to the top of a lot of those requests because so many different agencies within Gaston County said that we should make this a priority," he said, referring to the Real Time Crime Center. "When you have a lot of different people all on the same page saying that this is something that would really matter to a lot of people, that moves to the top of our priority list."
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia police receive federal grant for surveillance system
