The Columbia chapter of the NAACP supports the city adopting a surveillance technology that would allow police to access security cameras in real time.
Chapter President Mary Ratliff said she favors the software because the intelligence it provides would help eliminate unnecessary police stops, especially of Black people who may be stopped because they bear a passing resemblance to a suspect.
Fusus is a software that Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones wants to purchase for use in Columbia. The software allows police to view a map of registered surveillance cameras and access their video feeds in real time. Camera owners would have to opt into the system for police to see their camera locations.
The software has artificial intelligence capabilities that police can use to search for objects like a blue hoodie or a red Ford F-150.
Sahil Merchant, chief strategy officer for Fusus, said the software's artificial intelligence cannot recognize faces or search for people of a certain race. He said the company does not plan to add facial recognition, partially because many cities that use Fusus have forbidden it in their policies.
Merchant said Fusus could tamp down on racial profiling because the system can provide specific information.
"There have been a lot of times with minority communities where you have an eyewitness who vaguely described someone, and now the police are pulling over every person who looks like them," Merchant said. "We're trying to eliminate all that by making it about an actual real individual."
On Tuesday and Wednesday, police and Fusus representatives held open house-style informational meetings at two locations, where residents could learn about the software and ask questions.
According to those discussions, the level of access by police is determined by a business owner, who may expand, limit or revoke access at any time.
Orlando, Florida, rolled out Fusus in 2020 and began adding private business' cameras to the system two months ago.
Jay Draisin, captain of the Orlando Police Department's Crime Center and Forensics Division, said Fusus may help correct negative perceptions of and interactions with police. He said that because the software gives officers responding to a crime more details, officers are less likely to stop people who aren't the suspect.
The Police Department will consider the public's input at a policy and procedures meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Molly Thomas Bowden Neighborhood Policing Center.
Merchant said Fusus doesn't increase surveillance because it doesn't add surveillance cameras; it just allows police to more effectively use existing cameras. Fusus would primarily incorporate cameras owned by the city and private businesses. Some Columbia organizations like Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia Mall have indicated they would opt into the Fusus system. Merchant said it is less common for residential cameras to join the system, but individuals and apartment complexes may register if they choose.
Jones said Fusus would speed up investigations by making it easier for police to gather camera footage, which currently takes officers "hours or days."
"This can be done in real time very quickly, and we can really focus all of those resources on the investigation and catching the bad guy instead of gathering camera footage, which is what we do now, and it takes hours and hours and hours," Jones said.
Jones said Columbia police have no interest in using the Fusus software for general surveillance. Jones said the final policy would most likely limit Fusus' use to responding to crimes and monitoring high-risk events like concerts.
Police departments can limit which officers may access Fusus, Merchant said. Fusus has an audit function that logs every action in the system, which Jones said police would use to ensure the right officers are accessing the system and that they are using it appropriately.
Another concern surrounding Fusus is proof that it deters crime. At an Oct. 3 pre-council work meeting, Fusus representative Carlo Capano told the City Council that Fusus' focus is on supplying software, not collecting data, and that the best evidence of the software's effectiveness is reports from cities that have adopted it.
Merchant said no city that has adopted Fusus has gotten rid of it. He said the company prefers to demonstrate effectiveness through anecdotal evidence rather than numbers because statistics are "only one piece of the larger puzzle of policing."
Jones said if Columbia adopts Fusus, the police would use its records management system to track how many crimes Fusus helps resolve.
"I lean toward approving it," Foster said. "I think that the one thing that I want to see is what we develop in the way of policies and procedures for the use of the system."
Gloss