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Lake Mary police to tap into county's traffic camera system

LAKE MARY. Fla. — Drivers in Lake Mary could soon have another set of eyes watching them on the road. Lake Mary police plan to tap into the county's traffic cameras.    

Lake Mary Boulevard is the city's most traveled road. In the last year police said they responded to 541 accidents along the road.

Lake Mary police will buy new software that will help them log onto the real-time feeds on the county's 15 or so traffic cameras located on the city's main drag.

Police said it will make the road safer for drivers.

"Historically, when the police would arrive we would have to communicate what we are seeing to the dispatch center, 'Will we need medical? Will we need public works?' all those things. Well, if they're able to see it before we even get there they're going to be able to get those entities to respond to that location that much faster," said Zach Hudson of the Lake Mary Police Department.
 
Police will be able to see exactly what's happening at the monitored intersection at any given time, within seconds of getting a call following an accident or emergency. They said they are also looking at expanding the technology into banks and even schools.

Police have asked local schools to upgrade their cameras to ones they can access online. Most banks already have that technology.
   
"To be able to know who's inside that bank, what's going on inside that bank when you get the bank alarm, that's critical information," said Hudson.

Tapping into bank and school cameras is still a couple years away, according to police. But they expect to have access to the camera system along Lake Mary Boulevard within a few months.