Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced Friday that the city has completed an upgrade project to its 911 system that includes the integration of an Operation Virtual Shield (OVS) camera network into each Computer Aided Dispatch workstation.
The project was funded by a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and will help dispatchers relay critical information to first responders during emergencies.
Now when a 911 call is received in the city, the CAD system will use the OVS network to find any CCTV camera within 150 feet of the call address, providing the operator with real time video of location.
"Chicago is the first big city in the nation to have integrated its camera network into 911 operations, and it greatly enhances not only our homeland security strategy, but also our ability to fight crime," Daley said in a prepared statement.
