Aberdeen leaders hope that a new camera security system will cut-down on crime in the city?s hot spots.
Mayor S. Fred Simmons said he hopes the system, which will be placed in communities and businesses around the city, will see the same success as the City Stat system installed in Baltimore.
“We’re trying to put together a system that we thought we would need,” Simmons said.
Aberdeen City Manager Doug Miller said the city will invest about $112,000 for the system, which he said would be up and running in the next 10 days or so.
Miller said the $112,000 will pay for three security cameras and the computer hardware to network the cameras into monitors at the Aberdeen Police Department. Property owners will pay for the additional cameras tied into the system, Simmons said.
“It will be an added tool for us. Not just in terms of investigations, but also for prevention,” said Sgt. Fred Budnick, an Aberdeen police spokesman.
Budnick said a room at the police department will house all of the monitors that receive the live feeds from the cameras, but a full-time person has not been assigned to watch the monitors.
Miller said the city wanted to get the cameras in place before having to find funding to pay for a full-time monitor.
Simmons said the system will automatically archive security footage for 28 days, and should a crime occur within sight of one of the cameras, investigators can pull up the footage.
Simmons said Aberdeen police dispatchers will also have access to camera feeds.
“It’s cost effective in terms of public safety,” Simmons said.
“What we?re hoping to accomplish with this camera system is to remove the crime element and create a safe and secure community,” Shelter Development Director of Development Jeff Paxson said. Shelter Development owns Highland Commons, formerly known as Baldwin Manor, on the east side of the city.
