The Metropolitan Police Department is planning to link its closed circuit television cameras with its gunshot-location technology to get immediate pictures of an area where shots have been fired, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Friday.
The MPD’s fiscal 2009 budget includes $2.5 million to expand the department’s network of closed-circuit TV cameras, to install additional ShotSpotter gunshot-recognition systems and then to connect the two, Lanier told the D.C. Council’s public safety committee.
“Once the CCTV cameras and ShotSpotter are integrated, the camera’s pan/tilt/zoom capabilities can be activated to turn toward the direction of shots fired, increasing the effectiveness of both systems,” she said.
The department claims that violent crime is down 19 percent within 250 feet of its 74 cameras, and down 4 percent within 1,000 feet. MPD has seen a 30 percent reduction in calls for service related to drug activity around the cameras, Lanier said, and the CCTVs have “captured valuable information in 144 crimes, including 10 homicides.”
ShotSpotter triangulates the location of gunshots within a few feet. It is currently installed only in Southeast, though there are plans to put the technology in such Northwest neighborhoods as Shaw and Columbia Heights, which have been hit hard by gang violence. Police officials say the technology has been used over 17 months to recover 10 weapons and make eight arrests, including a man accused of killing a landscaper working in Anacostia in October 2006.
“Every tool that we can bring to bear to reduce and prevent crime in our neighborhood is certainly desirable,” said Alex Padro, Shaw advisory neighborhood commissioner. “I wish we had a camera on every single corner, then ShotSpotter linked to the cameras would really make a difference.”
2009 POLICE BUDGET
¦ $504 million, of which 96 percent is from local funds.
¦ Increase of 1.2 percent above fiscal 2008.
¦ Supports 4,950 full-time personnel, including 4,200 officers.
¦ 81 percent of budget goes to salary and benefits.
