American Airlines Center Joins Dallas Police Real-Time Camera Network

Major Entertainment Venue Plugs Into Surveillance System

The American Airlines Center in Dallas has joined the growing Fusus camera network, which connects private security cameras to the Dallas Police Department. This integration will give officers real-time updates and information about emergencies as they happen, helping to improve response times and situational awareness. By integrating the American Airlines Center, one of the city's busiest entertainment venues, the program can provide critical visual information to officers responding to incidents, potentially leading to faster response times and better outcomes.

As soon as a business in the program calls 911, the department can tap into their cameras to see what's going on as officers head that way. This marks a significant expansion for Dallas police, who can now monitor one of the city's most high-traffic locations hosting Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars games, concerts, and major events that draw thousands of visitors.

Dallas Police Chief, who said the Fusus network is a 'game changer' that gives officers a clear picture of emergencies before they arrive. Dallas Police are urging more businesses and residents to participate in the Fusus camera network program, either by integrating their cameras directly or registering them with the department. As the network continues to grow, the focus will remain on faster response times, better information for officers, and stronger collaboration between law enforcement and the community.

Growing Network Reaches Across Dallas

The program has already connected around 40 businesses and 1,000-1,500 cameras across the city, and the goal is to significantly expand the network further. The Fusus camera network has been in use by the Dallas Police Department for about two years. The system represents a major technological shift in how police gather intelligence and respond to emergencies across the sprawling metropolitan area.

On April 19, 2024, the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Police Fusion Center, launched the use of CONNECT DALLAS, a new public safety program. This partnership between DPD, Fūsus, and the community, allows residents, businesses, or organizations to register cameras, via an online portal. CONNECT DALLAS, and the camera registry, is a way for the Dallas Police Department to easily locate the nearest cameras in a designated area during an investigation, emergency event, or emergency response.

Registering a camera for the map is free, but integrating a camera to allow live footage requires a FususCORE device that can cost the camera owner between $350 and $7,300, depending on the number of cameras hooked up to the system. An additional yearly subscription is required after the first year of use. For the American Airlines Center, this investment represents a commitment to enhanced security for the thousands of fans and performers who visit the venue.

Technology Behind the System

In a quiet but rapid expansion of law enforcement surveillance, U.S. cities are buying and promoting products from Georgia-based company Fusus in order to access on-demand, live video from public and private camera networks. The company sells police a cloud-based platform for creating real-time crime centers and a streamlined way for officers to interface with their various surveillance streams, including predictive policing, gunshot detection, license plate readers, and drones.

Fusus uses artificial intelligence to search through video footage, the company's website says, although facial recognition technology is not employed. Instead, the system is trained to recognize weapons or vehicles that may be relevant to a case. In Dallas, where the work to integrate Fusus is ongoing, the estimated cost for three years will be nearly half a million dollars.

The American Airlines Center integration demonstrates how major venues are embracing public-private partnerships to enhance security. Vice President of Security Operations for the American Airlines Center, which has now integrated with the Connect Dallas Fusus program to enhance security and emergency response capabilities. This collaboration between entertainment venues and law enforcement creates a new model for urban safety that other cities are likely to watch closely.

Privacy Concerns and Future Expansion

Concerns about privacy and potential threats to civil liberties are sidestepped by claims that live access to footage is an "opt in" feature – but this means opt-in just for the camera owner and not the person recorded. Ownership of the cameras is not changed, but the video content is shared with police and retained by the Fusus system. Dallas marks a "departure" from Fusus' regular target, said Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project in New York, and the city marks a shift in the "disturbing trend" of "questionable" surveillance technology becoming the norm across American law enforcement agencies. "When you have these opaque, expansive, real-time crime centers gathering information about our lives, aggregating it and feeding it to police outside the court process, it's something that is open to error, misinterpretation and abuse," Fox Cahn told the Observer.

Despite privacy advocates' concerns, the program continues expanding rapidly. Arlington launched its own Connect program in January and partnered with Fusus for camera registration and camera integration options similar to Dallas'. So far, Arlington has had 930 cameras registered for the camera map and 249 integrated. The American Airlines Center's participation signals that major venues see