Police To Use New Tools For Crowd Control At Peach Drop

News from around Georgia

By: Associated Press | WSAV-TV
Published: December 30, 2011

» Comments | Post a Comment

ATLANTA, Ga. --

Atlanta police say they're planning to monitor the massive crowds expected for the Peach Drop on New Year's Eve from a new video center that can access thousands of public and private security cameras in the city.

Authorities say more than 180,000 people are expected in the downtown area on New Year's Eve for a parade, college football bowl game and the Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta.

Police say they plan to erect a Skywatch tower at Peachtree and Wall streets that puts an officer with surveillance cameras and a loudspeaker 30 feet above the crowd.

Robert McCrie, who researches crowd security at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, says improvements in camera technology have vastly improved surveillance for large events.