Albuquerque connects bus surveillance feeds directly to police

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The City of Albuquerque, New Mexico installed surveillance cameras on their buses a number of years ago. Up until September 2022, the bus surveillance feeds connected exclusively to the city's transit department. With the advent of a new law enforcement partnership, bus security camera feeds will now stream live to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

ABQ Ride, the transit agency serving Albuquerque passengers, has connected over 1,000 security cameras to APD's Real Time Crime Center, which links law enforcement to community and government live surveillance feeds. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller detailed the partnership in a Monday press conference. "This enables [Albuquerque transit security officers] to see the same thing that APD is seeing and be able to work on issues they may have that are lower-level," said Keller, citing instances of shoplifting that utilized public transit in the city.

"We hope this is really a platform that is going to have a multiplier effect when it comes to cleanliness, our transit system and public safety," said Keller. Bus surveillance feeds will be accessible to APD officers through the city's Real Time Crime Center, which serves as a monitoring station for video surveillance.

The City of Albuquerque has made efforts to connect more live video feeds to the Real Time Crime Center, including connecting video surveillance feeds in Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) facilities. The integration of live APS footage was instigated by a shooting at APS' Washington Middle School in August 2021, said Keller. Real-time video feeds at the Albuquerque Convention Center have also been connected to APD.

APD previously initiated a video surveillance sharing program called Albuquerque Community Connect, which enables community partners to register their security cameras and provides the option to link the live camera feeds directly to the Real Time Crime Center.

Madeline Lauver is the Editor in Chief of Security magazine. Lauver joined Security in 2021 as its Assistant Editor, and she covers news affecting enterprise security leaders, including physical security, cybersecurity, leadership and management, risk and resilience and more. Within her role at Security, Lauver focuses on news articles, web exclusives, features and several departments for Security’s monthly digital edition, as well as managing social media and multimedia content. Lauver graduated in 2019 with a B.A. in English, German and Media Studies from Kalamazoo College.

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