By Will Richmond
GateHouse News Service
Mon Jul 30, 2007, 11:57 PM EDT
Fall River - Crime-catching surveillance cameras will soon become a reality.
Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. Monday said he would sign a contract with provider Shannix either Monday or today to provide surveillance camera services. The company was low bidder for the project.
The $52,000 contract, Lambert said, includes the installation of four cameras, along with all related set-up, including satellite relays. He said the contract also allows for upgrading the capacity of the system and additional camera purchases.
“As part of this roll out, it’s very likely we will have more than four cameras,” Lambert said.
Once the contract is officially signed and the city enters into full discussions with Shannix representatives, Lambert said he would have better idea of when the cameras will become fully operational.
“It won’t be tomorrow, but it won’t be next year either,” Lambert said of the timeframe.
As for the locations of the cameras, Lambert said he would defer to Police Chief John M. Souza, but suggested the placement of the cameras may be done in a combination of spots that both residents would be made aware of and some spots that are not made public.
Lambert’s idea is in contrast to what has previously been stated by Souza, who has said the cameras will be placed in locations throughout the city based on crime statistics.
Souza previously mentioned locations of Griffin Park in Corky Row, the corner of Wamsutta and Quequechan streets, outside the future Southeastern Regional Transit Authority bus terminal and outside the B.M.C. Durfee High School parking area on Elsbree Street.
“I think the point is to keep people guessing,” Lambert said. “I understand the chief’s position, but at the same time I think if people know where the location of a camera is then they will take the criminal activity someplace else. I expect ... there will be some hybrid of the philosophies.”
Lambert said consideration of the location will also be given to where cameras used by private property owners are watching.
“There are cameras not under the auspices of the Police Department that record a good deal of what is going on,” Lambert said. “We’re not looking to have cameras where there might already be surveillance capacities.”
A public hearing on how the cameras would be used was held in February. At that meeting, Souza said the cameras will not be used to invade privacy, record the interior of private premises or to intimidate any individual or group.
Lambert Monday said the city would seek to employ cameras, however, that can swivel or be relocated as needed.
The idea of installing surveillance cameras first surfaced during a Flint neighborhood meeting in March 2006 following a deadly shooting.
Since that time, bringing the cameras to a reality has faced delays due to the bidding process, a need to hold the public hearing and other factors.
Originally, the city was planning to use a contractor from the state’s procurement list, meaning there would be no bid process.
Those plans changed, though, when a city company complained that local businesses were being left out of the process.
Lambert said he is pleased to now be able to award the contract.
“A whole series of steps unfortunately delayed the implementation of the cameras, but that hasn’t stopped the members of the Police Department from doing their job,” Lambert said.
My city recently installed a camera in one of the city parks. The camera can be monitored and adjusted from the supervisors computer in the station. It's been an absolute blast when these knuckleheads can't figure out how we know exactly where they stashed their dope!
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