NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The FUSUS program is a network that gives Metro police access to public and some private surveillance cameras with the owner's permission — like private cameras you might find outside a business.
It's a program backed by Metro Police but panned by civil liberties advocates, and the question of whether to allow the program to continue is coming up for a vote Tuesday night.
This is really a story about cameras and privacy.
Metro Police have argued that having access to more video feeds helps them solve crimes more quickly. Supporters of the program are the first to acknowledge that police only have access to a private business owner's footage if they obtain prior permission for police to look at their feeds.
Metro Police has already received permission for 1,300 private cameras in Nashville. The Mayor's office says the legislation prohibits the use of private home cameras to be part of the FUSUS system.
"We don't want to build a case on testimonial evidence," Deputy Chief Greg Blair told NewsChannel 5. "We want to build it on hard facts, and what's better than a picture or a video?"
Police also said it's the camera owners — the business owners — who keep control. They get to decide how long police can hold their video. And if they want, for any reason, at any time, the video owners can just tell police they don't want to give them video access anymore.
The Mayor's office says the private surveillance video Metro Police would be able to look at would not include any other data other than evidence of a crime.
It also would not include facial recognition data.
The Mayor's Office also says if Metro Council votes the FUSUS program down, police will also lose an important tool they already have: a map showing where private cameras are located, even if they currently can't instantly look at the feeds on those cameras.
But as you can imagine, there are a lot of concerns about allowing police to look at private surveillance cameras.
Metro Council Member Zulfat Suara said she worries how federal agencies might use this new technology under President-elect Donald Trump, potentially against immigrants.
"Given the way it's presented now, MNPD is doing everything they can to make sure that the surveillance part of it is controlled as best as they can," Suara told NewsChannel 5. "The problem is, we are in new times. This conversation three months ago may have looked different, but because of where we are and because of the promise of what is to come. we can't take any chances."
On Monday afternoon, several members from Community Oversight and Nashville's chapter of the NAACP urged councilmembers to vote down the proposal, saying it will unfairly hurt communities of color.
"The FUSUS program/technology will harm many Black residents, especially those in heavily-policed communities," the group said in a statement. "There are better ways to do policing in Nashville other than expanded surveillance and ushering in a new era of racial profiling."
Those arguments on both sides are a lot for anyone to consider. That's the task in front of Metro Councilmembers. We'll be watching to see what happens Tuesday night.
Here's just a sampling of our previous reporting on the FUSUS program:
Metro Council defers MNPD program to access private surveillance faster
A police-backed security camera program on private property is struggling to pass Council
Correction: A previous version of this story stated private home cameras were included in the FUSUS network accessible to police. The Mayor's office says the legislation Metro Council will be voting on prohibits the use of private home cameras to be part of the FUSUS network.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at jason.lamb@newschannel5.com
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
