GLASGOW — Police Chief Guy Turcotte is working with a new surveillance business and he wants to get the word out to local businesses about the system — especially since they will pay for it.

Police Watch, a program from Advanced Surveillance, Inc., of Louisville, was presented Friday to members of the Public Safety Committee, the Glasgow Police Department, the Glasgow Fire Department and the Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce. Owner of ASI, Tim Sparks, gave out pamphlets describing Police Watch, a system that would connect surveillance cameras at businesses directly to police dispatch and give information to police seconds after a panic button is hit, Sparks said.

“With my system and the high definition cameras in the system, you can see how many suspects are there, if they have weapons, if there are people injured, all while the crime is occurring,” Sparks said. “All before the police even get there.”

The system can also be placed outside to identify cars, even license plates with the right camera. And Sparks says the cameras are more than likely better than any in the businesses today, especially when pictures need to be sent to media.

“The videos that a lot of businesses have now, a lot of them aren’t even usable,” Sparks said.

Some of the cameras from ASI captured the damage at the Indiana State Fair stage collapse in August, according to Sparks.

Glasgow is the third city in Kentucky to receive Police Watch, but even though the monitoring system will be installed in the GPD next week, the system will only be in use if business owners purchase the cameras from ASI. The monitor system was free to the GPD and to taxpayers, Turcotte said.

The system cost varies depending on the type and size of the systems, but the average system can cost between $2,000 to $100,000. Warranties are available along with lease-purchase agreements can be obtained.

Sparks said he can install the systems cheaper because the company buys direct and builds their own systems, but he won’t ask an owner to remove the system that’s already in place.

“We would offer to use the old cameras in non-crucial areas like aisles,” Sparks said. “But change out the DVR and put high-end cameras in the other areas.”

Police Watch could also be used in conjunction with local burglar alarms and keep track of transactions.

“Employee theft, in my experience, is more than shoplifting,” Sparks said. “It’s even happened to me.”

Not only can owners keep track of transactions being made but they can also connect to the surveillance system from their smartphone.

Some questions came up, though, during Friday’s presentation, about the training needed with the system.

“Unless you push that button, dispatch is not going to be able to see that, and some employees are going to be afraid to push that button,” said Mike Burgess, security officer for South Central Bank. “There are some training issues.”

Training is a part of the installation process but Sparks said of course there are some issues. Even Turcotte acknowledged it would take some time for the system to be completely in use.

“Obviously you’re going to have some issues and that’s all part of the bugs that will have to be worked out with the system,” Turcotte said. “It all boils down to this: it’s the safety of the community.”

In working with the Chamber of Commerce, Sparks hopes to have a public meeting so that business owners can ask questions and check out the system for themselves.

The system can also include signs at the entrance of cities to inform travelers they are entering a “Police Watch zone,” but Turcotte decided not to install them.