By John Thompson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAPEVILLE, Ga. — Hapeville is getting ready to enter a new age of policing and pothole fixing.
On Tuesday, Information Technology and Communications Manager Ashley Smith updated the City Council on two new high-tech tools that should make it easier on residents.
Within the next seven to 10 days, the city’s website should have a button where residents can report potholes or other non-emergency problems. The program is called SeeClickFix.com and also has applications for BlackBerry devices and smart phones.
“A resident could take a picture of a pothole with his phone, and immediately send it to the city using this application,” Smith said.
Smith first learned of the program during a technology conference in Atlanta, and thought the program would be useful to residents.
“The program is free, and has ads on the site, but if we like it, we can upgrade to another version for about $40 a month,” Smith added.
The second tool is Iron Sky. This program will eventually have 20 surveillance cameras throughout the city at key locations.
“Iron Sky is extremely easy to operate and delivers high-quality footage in seconds,” said Hapeville Police Chief Richard Glavosek in a press release announcing the service. “It gives our officers another tool to make Hapeville safer, so we are excited about the possibilities.”
Officers can monitor the system in real-time on laptops in their vehicles. Iron Sky is currently being used by several other cities in the state, including College Park.
Smith said the cost of the system is $43,450 and has a yearly maintenance fee of $4,300.
“This also has a GPS capability, so we can know where the police cars are, and how close they are to any possible problem,” he added.
Smith expects the system to go live after the initial cameras are installed.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution