New Macon cop cam can zoom in on trouble — even scope your license plate from 400 feet
Bibb County sheriff’s officials on Wednesday unveiled a portable, solar-powered security camera that can, from 25 feet up, scan crowds and zoom in on trouble should it arise at public events.
The $26,000 camera was donated by the Macon Bibb Law Enforcement Foundation and will help police keep an eye on gatherings and enhance security at them, officials said.
The camera, mounted on a telescoping pole attached to a wheeled cart below, can be hauled behind a truck and set up in parking lots or at concerts and fairs, or anywhere people congregate.
Sheriff David Davis said the high-resolution camera, which can pan areas hundreds of yards wide, may even assist in finding children lost in crowds.
At a demonstration Wednesday at Central City Park to show off the device’s capabilities, the camera pulled into view and clearly focused on a spire at Mercer University two miles away. One deputy said the camera can focus on automobile license plates enough almost to read them 400 feet away.
“It also records,” the sheriff said, “so if we have something that happens, we’re able to go back (and) look.”
Deputies monitoring the camera can do so from a computer in a command center or on a cellphone. The device’s capabilities make it possible to set up the camera to watch a certain area, say, a particular section of a parking lot, and via motion-detector technology alert police anytime someone enters that area.
“It’s really a help to our forces,” Davis said, “and it’s really a force-multiplier. We can keep an eye on a large area of people ... without having to have so many (officers.)“
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 2:16 PM.