Operation Shield is now a go in Buckhead.
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.
The cost of the cameras is $140,000 from the Buckhead CID which includes hardware and software installation and a one-year service agreement. The Atlanta Police Foundation will also pay $70,000 for the cameras, the Buckhead CID reported.
It’s a surveillance network that would tie into the city of Atlanta’s new Video Integration Center.
Bob Carter, general manager for Iron Sky in Georgia, said the company would be able to log into all the systems in the Alanta area. The company currently has cameras in high profile Atlanta locations like Atlantic Station and Midtown.
Buckhead CID Chairman David Allman said he expects good things from the surveillance program.
“We believe this is a state-of-the-art, world-class system that will make Buckhead and Atlanta safer,” he said after the board unanimously approved the contract.
Once Buckhead CID and Iron Sky execute the purchase order, the cameras will be operational in about 12 weeks, according to the company.
Buckhead CID Executive Director Jim Durrett said he understands the privacy concerns some residents might have about the cameras, but he said the benefits of having the cameras in place are worth it.
Maps show the cameras will go up on strategic locations on Roswell and Piedmont Roads and around Lenox Road.
Jim King, chairman of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, called the cameras “a great aid to law enforcement.”
Diane Cox, president of the Brookwood Civic Association, 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.
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 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.
