Council to Vote on New FUSUS Grant Program
Lexington Police Officer working in the Real Time Intelligence Center. Source: LexTV
In Tuesday’s Council Work Session, Council will take their first vote on establishing a $10,000 grant to reimburse downtown businesses that integrate their security camera with LPD’s FUSUS program. The grant would be operated by the Downtown Lexington Partnership (DLP) and would only be available to businesses within downtown Lexington. Funds for the grant program were allocated in October 2023 using Fund Balance dollars.
FUSUS is a police technology software that integrates Flock camera images, traffic camera footage, and security camera footage from City-owned cameras into a central feed that LPD can access as needed. Homeowners and businesses are also able to integrate camera footage from their private security camera systems with LPD’s FUSUS platform. LPD pays FUSUS roughly $150,000 a year to use the platform.
Through the grant, downtown businesses would be reimbursed for costs associated with integrating their security camera footage with the FUSUS platform, allowing LPD to access that footage when investigating criminal activity.
Businesses must purchase a FUSUS core device to integrate their camera footage — the cheapest core device is $350, which includes the first year of a $150 annual subscription for the integration service.
If approved in Work Session, the grant program would receive First Reading in April 25th’s Council Meeting, and would likely receive Second Reading and a final vote of approval in May 9th’s Council Meeting.
Council Work Session will be held Tuesday, April 16th after the Mayor’s Budget Address in Council Chambers. You can attend in-person or watch live on LexTV.
