By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police expect to start this fall on a $2 million project to install up to 120 cameras to watch throughout the city for crime.
It’s the first step toward a system that eventually could send real-time video to officers’ in-cruiser laptops as well as instantly read license plates and run them through motor vehicle registration.
Some of the cameras also might have gunshot-recognition sensors, which turn the cameras toward the direction of the shots and zoom in.
Call takers and dispatchers in the 911 center, when a crime is reported, will be able to check any nearby cameras to immediately describe what they can see, while officers are still on the way.
Cincinnati is following larger cities such as Chicago and New York into the crime camera business. London leads the way in sheer quantity, with 10,000 throughout the city, though some opponents doubt whether the cameras deter crime.
Chicago started its “Operation Disruption” in 2003 and continues to add more cameras. The American Civil Liberties Union there has said the cameras are OK as long as they only monitor street crime and don’t violate personal privacy.
Commanders of the city’s five police districts will soon recommend where the cameras should go, Capt. Jeff Butler, project supervisor, said.
He said the cameras will be put up throughout the city, not just in one or two neighborhoods.
They will be in addition to the 20 going up along Glenway Avenue by the end of October. Target Corp. paid the $183,000 for those.
Although catching homicides on video would be ideal, Butler said officials expect the cameras more often will be helpful on what he calls “the reactive end,” for investigators going back to look at video taken just after a crime.
Those uses will lead to more identification and apprehension of suspects, he thinks, and the video will help prosecutors get more convictions.
There’s also the possibility of using a camera to watch a problem spot.
“Say there’s an officer eating his lunch in his car,” he said. “Eventually, he’ll be able to watch a camera that’s maybe two blocks away. So if he sees something, he puts down his lunch and goes.”
The digital cameras will take a minimum of 15 frames a second, relaying them back to the communications center via a secure bandwidth. “Think of it like Wi-Fi,” Butler said. The images will be stored for 14 days.
The $2 million comes from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance, specifically an Edward Byrne Memorial grant, named for a New York City officer killed on duty in 1988. The grant is on City Council’s agenda Wednesday for approval, making it likely that the money will be available for spending in the fall, Butler said.
Now, there are no fixed crime cameras in Cincinnati. Past camera programs failed for a variety of reasons - cost, aging technology and a lack of someone assigned to watch them, among others.
Butler says this plan is different. It’s a closed system, not accessible to the public, so it’ll be faster.
Also, technology has improved since the 2003 attempt with CityWatcher, which went bankrupt. The city gave some of those cameras to neighborhoods, including College Hill, but Butler said they’re so out of date now that none is being used.
Copyright 2008 The Cincinnati Enquirer