MA Police Department Wants Access to Private Surveillance Feeds

Why pay for the panopticon when others will build it for you?

WORCESTER —  The Police Department wants to partner with private companies in the city who are willing to have security cameras on their property fed to a high-tech video surveillance center being built at police headquarters.

Police Chief Gary J.Gemme said his department does not intend to monitor the video feeds all the time. Instead, he said, the video will be accessed only in instances of a shooting, robbery or other serious crime.

"If there is an incident going on, if there is an armed robbery in progress or if we get information as part of our investigations that a crime is going to be committed in a certain area, we will be able tap into the video cameras that already exist at that location," the chief said.