MEMPHIS, Tenn. –Crime-ridden neighborhoods are getting some help thanks to some new SkyCop cameras.
Only WREG has new information about the program designed to keep you and your family safe.
The Memphis City Council agreed to buy 70 SkyCop cameras and divide them among each district last year. Memphis Police spent months studying data to figure out where to put them.
“This is the most dangerous grid of neighborhoods in the city,” said Councilman Phillip Spinosa.
Spinosa brought the idea to the council. He said only neighborhoods would get them and the locations would be dictated by data.
It cost around $400,000.
“We have to make sure we put the cameras in the right places,” said MPD Director Michael Rallings.
Police said over the last year, they studied crime trends in every district and found the neighborhoods with the most violence and property crime. We’re talking burglaries, shootings, auto theft and even murders.
“This was months of work. We just didn’t run the data one work. We tried to get a true comparison, and we will run it again to see if its true,” said Major Lambert Ross.
Police then created a barrier with the cameras around the selected neighborhoods.
Rallings said that way it’s easier to catch criminals coming in and out.
Each camera is monitored in the Real Time Crime Center twenty four hours a day.
“These cameras work. Neighbors know they work,” said Mayor Jim Strickland.
He said some neighborhoods have raised their own money to get SkyCop cameras, but most can’t foot the bill.
“Most neighborhoods in Memphis cannot afford to buy their own cameras, so lets put it in our budget,” said Strickland.
The city council already signed off to do the same thing next year.
MPD is already looking where to put another 70 cameras.
“This is the council, the mayor, the administration and the police director trying to find a way to leverage technology to help our officers, our boots on the ground, to be more efficient,” said Spinosa.
More information about the Sentinel Camera Project
Your neighborhood can also apply for grant money to help combat crime. More details
