Metro Nashville Police Department requests access to businesses’ surveillance video for criminal investigations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) will ask Metro Council to consider allowing the department to receive outdoor surveillance camera video feeds from commercial businesses to assist in criminal investigations.

MNPD Deputy Chief Greg Blair said that video is often the key to solving investigations or closing a case, but that kind of evidence can sometimes be time consuming to get a hold of.

“When the detective goes to a market and they try to get video, nine times out of ten, we can’t pull the video,” Blair told News 2. “No one’s there to manage it. We can’t get access; it’s in the wrong format. We come back here — it doesn’t work.”

Police want to expand on a system they’re already using, called FUSUS , to make police work more efficient and be able to see potential crimes happen in real time. The MNPD said businesses could choose to install devices that would allow officers to access surveillance cameras remotely.

Additionally, the department argued that this would help the department solve crimes faster, keep officers safer, and save taxpayers money. However, some say FUSUS is an invasion of privacy and unnecessarily puts the public under surveillance.

“It’s a refrain we hear over and over again: that if you don’t have anything to hide, then you should be able to give your information over, and we know that’s just not the case,” senior staff attorney at digital privacy defense nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation , Saira Hussain, said. “People should have an expectation of privacy and the police shouldn’t be able to tap into private cameras in order to serve the public at large.”

MNPD added that they’re only requesting access to cameras from commercial businesses who could opt in or opt out. Businesses would also be able to select a time limit and other perimeters where video could be accessed. For example, businesses can set a time limit to only allow video to be obtained within the last 24 to 48 hours.

“Everyone’s recording everybody at any point in time. It’s a fact of life,” Blair said. “We’re only looking to build criminal cases.”

Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board Executive Director Jill Fitcheard, who previously called the technology “alarming,” was not immediately available for an interview.

“We are doing research to determine how the new ask differs from the previous request and once we have that information we will share it with the public,” Fitcheard told News 2 via email.

Metro Council will be asked to consider the proposal at their October 15 meeting.

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