Members of Buckhead neighborhood associations said they are in favor of the series of surveillance cameras going up around Buckhead.
One neighborhood leader is even considering asking the company installing the cameras on Buckhead’s busiest streets about putting the cameras in his neighborhood.
The Buckhead Community Improvement District on Oct. 25 approved a proposal from the Texas-based firm Iron Sky, which is the company behind the surveillance cameras in Sandy Springs, to install 16 cameras around Buckhead. The program, known as Operation Shield, will include 14 pan and zoom cameras and two fixed position cameras for the foot bridge pathway of a planned pedestrian bridge.
Ron Grunwald, president of the Loring Heights Neighborhood Association, said he is in talks with Iron Sky about setting up the cameras in his neighborhood and said he plans to bring a formal proposal to the neighborhood in the spring.
“I understand it’s kind of creepy from in a Big Brother way,” Grunwald said, but added he thinks the cameras will make more of an impact on public safety than one police officer walking down a street in a large beat.
Jim King, chairman of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, said he’s comfortable with the cameras.
“It sounds like they’re all in the business district and they’ll be a great aid to law enforcement,” he said.
Diane Cox, president of the Brookwood Civic Association, said called the cameras “a good idea.”
“Our neighborhood is constantly having issues with break ins and we’ve been thinking seriously about asking the buildings on Peachtree to get involved with the Iron Sky project,” Cox said. “It’s so expensive to get those private police services. We can’t afford it.”
