New technology to allow Acworth police to access city surveillance cameras from patrol vehicles

ACWORTH, Ga. - In Acworth, police will soon have the ability to keep an even closer eye on crime with the help of new technology paid for by a grant from the State of Georgia. Earlier this week, the city’s police department was awarded nearly a million dollars for new technology upgrades.

"It’s going to be a game changer in terms of our ability to use existing technology to our advantage … the state has granted us almost a million dollars—$930,000—to begin some new initiatives involving leveraging technology," Acworth Police Chief Jesse Evans told FOX 5.

Evans said as crime rates soar across the nation, this money comes at just the right time.

"Statistics statewide, we’re seeing that there has been a spike in violent crime particularly in the metro Atlanta area," he stated.

While Evans said the crime rate in City of Acworth remains relatively low, his department isn’t turning down any opportunity to keep it that way.

"Rather than waiting for a crime to occur and then trying to respond, we’re actually actively looking for criminal activity," he explained.

The Acworth Police Department was awarded nearly a million dollars for new technology upgrades to help them keep a closer eye on crime. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

As the Acworth Police Department prepares to merge its network of city-wide cameras with Cobb County Police Department’s real time crime center, the money will cover new laptops so officers can access surveillance footage while they’re out on the road.

"One of the things they can do is monitor cameras systems, monitor the real time crime center, we use Flock camera systems with license plate readers so that we can be more proactive," Evans said.

The grant will also pay for 14 additional Flock cameras.

"Even officers responding to a scene before they get there, our crime analysts are already able to tell responding officers, ‘This is the vehicle you’re looking for, this is the tag you’re looking for’," the chief told FOX 5. "In Zone 1, just south of us, police were actually waiting at the perpetrators house who he showed up from after a shooting case that happened just outside of our jurisdiction."

Evans said his goal for policing in the technology age is to work smarter, not harder and stay one digital footprint ahead of criminals.