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Atlantic City Police Open High-Tech Surveillance Center

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--A reason for Atlantic City police to celebrate Wednesday as the department--which is fighting state-mandated layoffs--opens a high-tech surveillance center.

The Atlantic City Headquarters for Intelligence Logistics Electronic Surveillance, or ACHILES for short, now keeps watch on more than 500 cameras throughout the city.

"You know as our department is shrinking because of the city's budgetary woes, this is a force multiplier for us," said Atlantic City Police Chief Henry White.

The ACHILES was built in the public safety building through funding by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Officers on desk duty and retired cops hired as Class 2 officers will man the center as if going on virtual patrol of the city.

"We all feel here at ACPD that this is going to make everyone who lives, works and visits Atlantic City much safer," said White.

On the boardwalk in Atlantic City there are currently about 150 cameras that are mounted on light post. The video is available 24/7 in the surveillance unit and using one of these joy sticks you can zoom in on an incident or pan around and get a 360 degree view of Atlantic City.

Police say this is just a start, every week they hope to get more businesses to tie in their private surveillance systems.

Officials say ACHILES isn't just about solving and preventing crime, it will help finding missing people and coordinating emergency responses.

But if you're someone who doesn't the idea of being under more police surveillance, there is another side to the equation: officers are being watched too.

"Transparency is the key word and anytime you can have video documentation of what happened it is always much better for everyone," White said.

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