MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Police Department is receiving nearly $2 million in federal funding to fight crime by upgrading and buying new security cameras.
Congressman Steve Cohen made the announcement Tuesday afternoon with Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Interim Police Chief C.J. Davis standing by.
Half of the $1.9 million will go towards upgraded surveillance cameras while the other half will go to new body cameras that can automatically record. Interim Chief Davis says that technology can be a vital tool to help make up for MPD’s lack of manpower.
Co-founder of Memphis restaurant, Smackers Jerry Luellen says businesses like his rely on Memphis Police SkyCop cameras to make sure customers can feel safe.
“I think it’s a very important part of people continuing to come out and support and feeling safe enough to bring their families out,” he said.
He’s very much in favor of the Memphis Police Department using the federal funding to purchase upgraded surveillance cameras designated for Memphis’s high-crime zip codes.
“I think it’s vital not just for Smackers, but for all businesses,” he said.
The new cameras are expected to help boost MPD’s camera network with license plate reader capabilities that can signal the location of a stolen car and direct police there.
“What we plan to do is to take a deeper dive into (the) specific needs in those zip code areas where we have the most frequency of crime,” Interim Chief Davis explained.
Interim Chief Davis said the next phase is to tie the cameras into their 911 system.
“So if a call came up here in this building, the closest five or six cameras in this area would automatically show in the Real Time Crime Center,” she said.
The interim chief says while the cameras are only a part of the solution, she also shared a story from a community meeting that she believes shows they can work.
“When that Skycop camera was put in her neighborhood, all of the loitering, all of the drug sales that were going on in that particular block literally stopped,” Interim Chief Davis said. “So I think there is this element of prevention.”
Interim Chief Davis says they don’t know yet how many cameras they will purchase but expects them to be up and running in neighborhoods within a month.