Scranton’s plan to allow private, existing video surveillance cameras to feed into a network at the city’s police headquarters would be like having extra eyes on the streets, Police Chief Carl Graziano said. A community video-camera surveillance network would involve private surveillance cameras in the city, such as those at banks, businesses or colleges, to link to the police station on South Washington Avenue. There, a wall of 32 video monitors would show live feeds from the privately owned and operated surveillance cameras, most of which already exist in public areas. “It’s going to be a second set of eyes,” Chief Graziano said of a video surveillance camera network. The Police Department won’t record the feeds, he said. The idea is that if a crime is reported in an area where surveillance cameras exist and feed into police headquarters, officers there can view the feeds to see if they are transmitting pertinent images, such as suspects fleeing, he said. “It becomes a force multiplier,” the chief said. “We’ll know where the cameras are. If there’s a bank robbery, an officer can look at the cameras” in that area. The network also could be used proactively, he said. For example, if cameras are in parks, police could monitor those feeds to see if anyone is there after dark when they are not supposed to be there, he said. “It’s difficult for police to be everywhere,” Chief Graziano said. The plan for a video wall was approved by the city in May. On Nov. 9, the city published in The Sunday Times a public notice requesting proposals by a deadline of Nov. 21. On that day, the city unsealed the one request that was received, from App Techs of Lancaster for $11,400, according to city public records. That proposal now is under review by the city’s Information Technology department to determine if it conforms to the required technical aspects and specifications that the city requires, Chief Graziano said. The specifications called for police to be able to view multiple feeds of varying formats, including raw camera feeds and digital and analog signals, to name a few. A network also should be “scalable from one to multiple monitors, but should not require a unique monitor for each video feed.” The network should have sufficient bandwidth and fit into a space of 15-feet wide by 5-feet, 10-inches high. A pricing proposal also should have included the cost of implementation and one year of support/maintenance, the specifications state. Around three or four firms had attended a mandatory pre-proposal conference on Nov. 14, but then only one proposal was received, he said. It has not been determined if the lone proposal meets the specifications, and the price proposal seemed to be fairly low for what the city was seeking, the chief said. If the proposal is not acceptable, the city likely would have to go back to the drawing board, the chief said. “The goal would be to have it (the video wall) running as soon as possible. The sooner the better,” Chief Graziano said.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:35:16 +0000
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