Law enforcement agencies sharing live camera feeds

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - In an effort to make crime-fighting more efficient, Orlando Police and the Orange County Sheriff's Office will now share access to each other's surveillance systems.

"We share so many jurisdictional boundaries so, it makes sense that we can share all the intelligence, information that we can," said Jose Velez, Deputy Chief, Orlando Police Department. "We're sharing our connectivity with them, and they're sharing their connectivity to their cameras with us."

Both agencies combined will create a network of 255 cameras -- a change Velez says is made possible by improvements in technology.

"Technology evolved, and we're aiming to evolve with technology, so we have the ability now to join forces with other jurisdictions, so we're taking advantage of that," said Velez.

Both agencies hoping the change will speed-up the process of catching criminals because they used to have to call or email a request for video. For crimes that begin in one jurisdiction and move into the other, like pursuits, Velez says time is critical.

"Us being able to track that individual on the spot, right away, within seconds of the crime being committed," said Velez.

The merger was approved Monday by Orlando City Council, the access should be available in the coming days. The Sheriff's Office released a statement about the agreement:

"Central Florida Law Enforcement has a long history of working together to keep our community safe. Under this agreement, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Orlando Police Department will have access to each other's live video feeds -- to include OPD's IRIS cameras and OCSO's real time traffic cameras. We believe that providing each agency access to the other's live-stream video feed will promote public safety in both of our jurisdictions, especially during active or emerging situations. Neither agency will have the ability to control the other's cameras, nor will they be able to record video. This agreement is just another way that our agencies are working hard to keep our residents and visitors safe."