Rep. Pat Ryan joined Dutchess County leaders at the county sheriff's office Tuesday to announce a new video surveillance program they expect will help law enforcement agencies catch more criminals in the act, and even prevent crime in some cases.

The Real Time Crime monitoring system is an opt-in, cloud-based program for businesses, places of worship, schools and nonprofits to share their live security camera feeds directly with local police.

The system would allow police to respond to crimes in progress.

Rep. Ryan said he has secured just over $1 million in federal grant money for the county's Real Time Crime monitoring system.

Handshakes and praise abounded among top county and state officials of both major parties at Tuesday's press conference.

"You didn't hear anything about [political] party or anything else," Ryan said. "This is about safety."

Under the monitoring program, an organization will be able to choose to share live video from all its surveillance cameras with police via a virtual cloud.

Through an artificial intelligence component police would receive alerts of any suspicious or criminal activity as it is unfolding, not minutes – or hours – later when someone calls 911.

"We can monitor that situation and dispatch cars immediately," Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati said in an interview after the press conference.

Imperati told News 12 that despite some privacy concerns he has been receiving mostly positive feedback on the plan.

"When people come to Dutchess County or move to Dutchess County – we have over 300-thousand residents – they want safe schools," he said. "They want safe streets. They want their businesses to be safe."

News 12 visited the new North Hamilton Street headquarters of the youth and family advocacy group Community Matters 2, where staff is expanding the center's surveillance system.

Community Matters 2 Executive Director L'Quette Taylor said although he has concerns about privacy and misuse, he believes Real Time Crime monitoring would make his clients safer and provide peace of mind.

"As a nonprofit – personally, I deal with children and families – I would opt into it," Taylor said.

The grant money should become available in January and the system will be ready to use by the spring, Imperati said, adding that he already has a long list of local businesses and non-profits who have already committed to sharing their live video feeds.

Rep. Ryan said he also secured just over $1 million in federal funds to upgrade the county's two-way radio communications system.

Imperati said those changes will greatly improve interagency communication.