May 16, 2008 7:56 am US/Eastern
Baltimore Police Will Phase Out Blue-Light Cameras
BALTIMORE (AP) ―
-
-
Baltimore City's blue-light cameras are going to be taken out of some of Baltimore's worse areas.
CBS
City police will phase out the early generation of blue-light cameras and replace them with more sophisticated closed-circuit units.
The portable cameras represent about 18 percent of Baltimore's crime cameras, according to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. Their technology requires considerable manpower, rendering them ineffective.
"There's a great deal more heavy lifting involved to make them effective," said the commissioner, calling the portable cameras an "albatross" during a budget hearing this week. "That's something we've learned during our experience with camera deployment."
Baltimore has a surveillance system that includes 454 closed-circuit cameras, which are wired to a monitoring center. The city wants to phase out its 102 "podds" -- for portable overt digital display system -- cameras, which include the well-known boxy, blue-light variety.
Officer have complained about the limitations of the podds, which must be monitored on site with a laptop-style controller.
Police can also review video stored in the cameras, but they sometimes encounter trouble retrieving the images.
"By virtue of their design they were meant to be a deterrent, to be a physical beacon in their neighborhood," Bealefeld said. "If they're going to be a deterrent, you have to have teeth in them."
The cameras were first installed in 2005, and were criticized from the beginning. Civil libertarians objected to them, as did Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy, who claimed they were ineffective.
But some residents wanted the portable cameras in their neighborhoods because their large, blinking blue lights were seen as a deterrent to crime.
Kristen Mahoney helped build the camera system. She said lights were later added to some closed-circuit cameras as well.
"Drug dealers tend to embrace technology more quickly than we do sometimes, and we've got to continually evolve to stay ahead of it," said Mahoney, who is now executive director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
The portable cameras cost about $30,000 each. That's much less than the more sophisticated closed-circuit units -- and officials said that at the time they were a good way to complement better systems in the works.
Bealefeld said police are working to build a network that is better integrated with city dispatch.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
