Tech platform showing citywide cameras helps Rocky Mount police solve crimes

Rocky Mount police say they were able to solve a robbery in a matter of hours thanks to an app that connects them to cameras citywide.

Investigators say the FUSUS platform helps them solve crimes more quickly and keep repeat offenders off the street.

Rocky Mount police said they were called to the Friendly Way convenience store on Raleigh Road around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

A man told them he had been robbed outside, and their first step was to take the investigation online.

“Officers and investigators as they were responding accessed the FUSUS cameras and were able to locate footage from a local entity that we have access to,” said Lt. Tom Seighman.

Officers used FUSUS, a tool that lets them instantly pull up security cameras across the city that have agreed to connect to their system.

“And using that video, investigators were able to identify suspects and a potential location where the suspects may be,” Seighman said.

Police told WRAL News that while accessing the cameras, they saw that a woman had set up the victim to be robbed, with two men entering his car with guns and then running away.

Within five hours, police arrested 30-year-old Traci Perry, charging her with Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon and Possession of a Stolen Firearm.

Cartell Thomas, 25, was also charged with Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon as well as Possession of a Firearm by a Felon.

Additionally, Jaquan Allen, 24, was charged with Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon.

All three were given $100,000 secured bonds.

“With the more eyes you have out there where you can see, the better chance you have of solving a crime,” Seighman said.

Investigators said that in the past this search would have taken much longer, dependent solely on witness statements or hoping that a business would share their surveillance video.

But because cameras nearby had already connected to FUSUS, investigators had their suspects in a matter of hours.

They’re now asking other businesses in Rocky Mount to do the same.

“Getting individuals off our streets as quickly as possible means it’s less likely that they’re out there committing more crime,” Rocky Mount police chief Robert Hassell said.