PARRAMORE, Fla. – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer posted in a blog Wednesday that eight additional IRIS cameras have been added to the Parramore area in Orlando.
In the blog, the mayor posts:
"I am proud of the IRIS camera expansion, as we work to use the latest in technology to combat crime and help to keep our community safe."
The additional eight cameras brings the total to 170 total cameras that the City can access, 120 of them are owned and operated by the City itself. Currently, the City says that 86 percent of its cameras are currently functioning properly.
For businesses in the Parramore area, the added security measures means safer working conditions.
"I wish we had those sooner," said Lee Garner, who works at a nearby barber shop. "We had someone break in through this window and I went to look for the camera, and realized there wasn't one."
Due to security reasons, the City says it cannot confirm the new camera locations, but a few of them can easily be spotted near Church Street and Parramore Avenue. That area surrounds the site of the New Orlando City Soccer Stadium which is scheduled to open next summer.
"The mayor just wants people to feel safe when they come to the stadium," said Lawanna Gelzer, who helps run a daycare center nearby. "We've been asking for improvements in the neighborhoods around it for years, and that never gets addressed," She added.
Gelzer argues that the improvements are meant to comfort soccer fans who will be visiting the area.
"Parramore has a reputation," Gelzer said. "For those who have been waiting for security cameras in the neighborhoods, keep waiting."