The company was founded in Atlanta in 2019 by US Naval Academy and Georgia Tech MBA graduate Chris Lindenau. Fusus was previously SecuroNet - a company selling a situational awareness system employing a public-private camera mapping and registry, a real-time video software and camera hardware. Following the acquisition of SecuroNet along with additional private investment, Fusus launched under a new leadership team. Fusus is one of the fastest growing police surveillance tech companies in the United States. In 2024, the company was acquired by Axon. This purchase is concerning as it extends Axon’s breadth of datasets and data collection tools.

Chris describes the purpose of Fusus is to enhance the interoperability of the different technologies that police use by integrating different systems into a cloud-based “situational awareness” platform. Fusus’ primary product enables police departments to build a “real time crime center”, a growing trend among police across the country. This goal of interoperability will only increase the appetite for more surveillance technology from police agencies around the country. For example, the company recently partnered with Skydio, a major drone vendor, for integrating Skydio’s system into Fusus. Also, Axon recently reported that Fusus is now building a customer base with school districts.

The company also sells surveillance cameras to police but also to consumers, similar to Amazon Ring. At the point of sale, the company asks consumers if they are willing to give police real-time access to their camera feeds without a warrant. The company does this through these marketing websites, such as ConnectAtlanta.com or ConnectMemphis.com, where cameras or tools which integrate cameras from other vendors into the Fusus network are sold to customers.

The company also has an established presence and customer base in the United Kingdom.

Funding

In 2022, Fusus received a $21 million Series B investment from Axon as part of the companies creating a formal partnership. Then, in 2024, Axon purchased Fusus.

Fusus fuels a major expansion of police surveillance with significant consequences:

• Fusus’ real-time crime center platform and camera network is a dragnet surveillance system that has the potential to violate civil rights and liberties.

  • Fusus is seeking to build a vast network of cameras which can include doorbell cameras, drones, robots, fixed surveillance cameras, helicopters, hidden cameras, police body cameras, and cameras in schools and churches, among other settings.

  • Fusus’ recruitment of privately-owned cameras allows the company to bypass laws and restrictions which normally limit police, including viewing camera footage without a warrant or ongoing consent from the owner. This poses serious safety concerns for all community members, especially those who have experienced a high volume of police abuse and violence.

• Fusus is a privatization of policing and this directly undermines democratic values.

  • Fusus relies on community members and business owners to purchase the company’s cameras or integrate other cameras into the company’s network in order to give police maximum camera coverage. By relying on private consumers to expand the camera network, voters are intentionally excluded from providing input and oversight over the growing local surveillance apparatus.

• Fusus is a private company who profits from the continued threat of crime - or the perception of crime - and has no business interest in ending it.

  • Fusus has no business interest in creating safe communities and ending crime, crime is what makes the company profitable. Their profit is driven by fear and the continuation of crime and violence in communities. As a result, the company has no interest in creating a product that addresses the root causes of crime, conflict, and violence. Spending hundreds of thousands on Fusus will never create safe communities. 

• Fusus seeks to collect and share as much data as possible across police jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies. 

  • Fusus’ surveillance system collects and aggregates massive amounts of data from multiple surveillance technologies and these tools gather enough data to reveal sensitive personal information, including where someone lives, works, and their religious affiliation, among other information. These tools do not discriminate as data is gathered on everyone. This puts communities that we must protect - abortion seekers and undocumented people - at threat of police surveillance and criminalization. 

  • Once data is collected, it is very difficult to implement meaningful firewalls and oversight mechanisms to ensure the data is not being used in harmful ways. The only way to ensure that abortion seekers and undocumented people aren’t targeted is to never collect the data in the first place.

• Fusus’ system creates conditions which are ripe for police abuse.

  • Fusus provides little, if any, oversight of how police use its system, little documentation and auditable logs, and few transparency mechanisms, policies, or procedures.

• Fusus’ image recognition algorithms could violate surveillance ordinances.

  • Fusus pitches its product as using image recognition algorithms on all incoming video and the company boasts that new algorithms are developed and added automatically into the system weekly. This would mean a continuous introduction of new and unvetted surveillance tools. The concerns are similar to Shotspotter —likely a high rate of false positives and over-policing, plus poorly validated black box proprietary algorithms, with bias baked-in by their training sets.

Products

FususONE is a map-based interface that combines private and public video streams into a single feed, enabling greater situational awareness and a common operating picture. Video streams from fixed and mobile sources are all seamlessly combined into a single platform. Data from internet of things applications, floor plans, ShotSpotter triggers, and remote overwatch capabilities with the live positions of first responders like police, fire, EMS & public works are all layered in and accessible via a common interface.

FususOPS enables first-responder police in the field to transmit their location, send panic alerts, send and receive image and text alerts, and communicate directly with the command center. FususOPS app is available via iOS or Android compatible devices.

FususCORE is a device that connects cameras into FususONE, making the real-time footage of private-owned cameras accessible to police. The device automatically detects and connects to every camera on a building's network. The CORE appliance is compatible with a wide range of IP security cameras and is controlled and configured using the FususONE dashboard. Fusus states that their goal is for businesses to obtain a FususCORE device.

FususSYNC allows privately-owned cameras that cannot accommodate a physical CORE device to utilize a cloud-based virtual CORE. As a result, any camera, whether connected over a wired, wifi, or cellular network can stream live and record, with the added benefit of FususAI Search and Alert functions, for a low monthly price, without any installation or hardware.

FususREGISTRY is primarily for residences or businesses that don’t wish to share their live feed with the police. Registration is voluntary but creates a searchable database of people that have cameras. Using the registry search, police can send automated requests for video footage from camera owners who have registered their devices.

FususVAULT is a cloud-based investigation tool that allows police to store recorded incident video and data, including public tips. The digital evidence vault is easily searchable and enables police users to cross-reference and group evidence related to the same cases, to speed investigations.

FususAI allows police to go beyond manual search parameters by automating detection capabilities. Fusus AI enables users to set alert profiles, such as weapons, vehicles of interest, and other identifying characteristics established by the user. When a match to the search parameters appears on any camera in the designated area of interest, alerts are automatically triggered and sent to the police.

FususANALYTICS enables police to unify their data from a variety of sources and operations into a single platform. This software aggregates data and searches for themes, trends, and patterns.

FususNOTIFY acts as a text alert hotline for emergencies and other urgent information. Text alerts can be sent directly via the FususONE interface to an opt-in list of community members’ cell phones.

FususTIPS is a text message system where members of the public can anonymously submit multi-media tips to the police department by either texting pictures, text or video to a widely publicized number. Tips are parsed directly into the FususVAULT database for examination.

FususLIVELINK allows for 911 callers to share live video with dispatch. The system enables 911 dispatch to offer callers the option to have a rapid video response from the police. If they say “yes” a LiveLink is shared with the caller via SMS to initiate the video call. Once ”accepted” an officer is assigned to the call and the caller is connected to the officer via a secure audio/video portal.

FususGlobal allows security operations centers, which monitor and protect an organization’s IT infrastructure from cybersecurity threats, and real time crime centers (RTCCs) to coexist in one seamless interface. This integrates all of Fusus’ products with a police department’s cybersecurity systems and infrastructure.

Nashville Informational Report, 2023

City of Seattle, Surveillance Impact Report, Real Time Crime Centers, 2024 (this report is not about Fusus specifically but about real time crime centers)

Privacy or safety? U.S. brings 'surveillance city to the suburbs'

Police struggle to justify use of Fusus, a community surveillance tool they foisted on citizens

Is Your Local Police Department Using Fusus AI-Enabled Cameras? Find Out Here

City Council rejects Fusus surveillance software for police use