Law Enforcement Using Technology That Accesses Live Video From Any Camera Connected to the Internet
by Jordan Arizmendi
Last February, WDTN reported that
Dayton, Ohio, City Commission members, voted to approve installation of the Fusus network. When the system is set up, a 911 call will automatically identify cameras in the area that have a live feed. As a result, police officers could get a real-time view of what is going on around that 911 call. Atlanta, Memphis, Orlando, and countless other police forces across the country are imploring the public to invest in the Fusus surveillance system.
Essentially, the Fusus technology allows law enforcement to spy on people who do not know that they are being watched, as well as target protestors, political dissidents, or even harass people of color. Unrestricted police surveillance allows law enforcement to spy on people without any probable cause.
Now that so much of the world is accessible through video footage, besides hiding under a bed or maybe down in the basement, there are not many places to hide from the Watchful Eye. Fusus is such an effective police surveillance tool because it extends police access to surveillance cameras and then integrates these cameras with private and public networks of other surveillance services.
On the Fusus Q&A page, one question, “How does conditional camera access work through policy-based sharing?,” provides a very revealing answer.
“Conditional camera access means the camera network’s owners have the ability to choose how and when their cameras are accessible to FususONE. For example, the local police department may choose to have access to street, public building and transit cameras streaming live 24/7 based on the department’s policy. However, private businesses and schools may choose to only have their cameras accessible to the police department when an emergency situation arises, and they activate the live streaming capability via a panic button. Other locations such as private residents and neighborhoods may choose to never establish a live stream from their cameras, and only register them via FususREGISTRY, providing valuable intelligence to local law enforcement agencies for forensic purposes.”
The word “Fusus” comes from the ancient Greek word for spindle. Like a spindle weaves threads together to construct a single powerful strand, the Fusus technology weaves video and data streams into a single all-seeing surveillance system.
The possibilities are truly endless (and unsettling). Of course, the more cameras added to the network, the more effective it becomes. In June 2022, the Interim Chief of Police in Atlanta told 11 Alive, an NBC affiliate, that the Connect Atlanta network has more than 5,700 integrated cameras and 3,000 registered cameras.
The goal of Fusus, is to incorporate as many surveillance systems into one instrument for police. By partnering with other surveillance companies such as ShotSpotter, which alerts police to gunfire; Geolitica, which provides patrol guidance and measures officers in real-time; and Vigilant Solutions, which provides license plate recognition capability, a single police officer can become a one-person mass-surveillance system.
Sources: eff.org; police1.com; fusus.com
