They?ve been criticized as costly and ineffective. But Tuesday, Baltimore?s pole cameras helped land a murder conviction.
“This is an excellent example of how pole camera footage can be a useful investigatory tool for prosecutors,” Baltimore City State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy said.
Earl Holeman, 38, of Capitol Heights, pleaded guilty to the Jan. 1, 2006, first-degree murder of his former girlfriend, Michelle Denton, 49, after Holeman was presented with photos of him leaving the crime scene. The pictureswere taken by the Baltimore Police Department?s pole cameras.
Baltimore City Circuit Judge Wanda Heard sentenced Holeman to 30 years in prison.
At 10 a.m. that New Year?s Day, Holeman stabbed Denton in the throat with a knife as she waited at a bus stop in the 300 block of West Fayette Street, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors entered into evidence seven still photographs captured from the pole cameras that show Holeman fleeing the scene, including one in which Holeman is clearly identified, according to Jessamy?s office.
“This successful prosecution and plea agreement was negotiated as a result of the immediate investigation and critical evidence that was carefully gathered from pole cameras located in the vicinity of the crime scene,” Jessamy said.
Earlier this year, prosecutors released a year?s worth of data from their pole camera prosecutions that showed the large majority of incidents caught by the cameras are drug crimes, not violent felonies; and arrests generated by the cameras were less likely to result in charges than normal police arrests.
In all, the cameras caught 609 drug offenses, 24 incidents of trespassing, 21 incidents of illegal cigarettes, 16 assaults, 12 thefts, seven weapons violations, five incidents each for robbery and burglary, and three littering incidents. There was one attempted murder, which prosecutors placed on an inactive court docket.
Tuesday?s murder conviction is the second that was aided by pole camera footage since the devices were installed throughout the city in 2005, said Margaret Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore City State?s Attorney?s Office.
“This is something to be happy about,” she said. “The pole cameras were used in the right way ? as an investigatory tool for prosecutors, combined with careful analysis and good detective work.”
Baltimore Police Department spokesman Matt Jablow said the murder conviction is more evidence of the usefulness of the cameras.
“These cameras have been an incredible tool for the police department literally from the day we put them in,” he said. “They?ve helped us identify witnesses. They?ve helped us deter violent crime.”
The cameras cost $10 million to install, with $3 million coming from the police department?s general fund and the other $7 million paid for with federal homeland security funds and seized money from drug dealers, according to police.
