Sandy Springs Police Chief Terry Sult told Alpharetta City Council members that deterrence and community satisfaction are measures of success. He said the purpose of Sandy Springs' public camera system is to give police and fire officials–and even utility companies–a view of a crisis scene such as a shooter in a school or a fire.

During Alpharetta's City Council meeting, Bob Carter of Iron Sky showed members what the company has done in Sandy Springs, Midtown and other metro Atlanta cities by logging onto the Iron Sky system via a web browser.

Council members got to see live video feeds from cameras in those cities, and information loaded onto a map showing where patrol cars and fire engines were responding.

Concerned about privacy, Alpharetta City Councilman Chris Owens said "I'm going to go ahead and use the word that I know is on people's minds, Big Brother comes to mind."

He added, "One of the things that concerns me greatly is we're giving up some freedom in exchange for security. And how do we manage that balance, and how do we do it responsibly?"