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Street eyes security cameras BALTIMORE - Philadelphia Mayor John Street yesterday received a tour of Baltimore's surveillance-camera network, saying he wanted to see how the crime-fighting tools worked in a neighborhood setting. Street, who wants to bring a similar surveillance system to Philadelphia, met with Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley to discuss the city's camera network. Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm also discussed how the cameras are used with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. Philadelphia residents will be voting in a May referendum on the use of surveillance cameras as a crime deterrent. "We expect that the ballot question will pass, and when it does, we will be ready to initiate pilot programs, and then I hope to use this technology in a very effective way to supplement our existing policing methods," Street said. Street received a tour of a control center where video from the cameras is viewed. He also went to neighborhoods where they are used. Philadelphia police already used security-camera footage to charge Juan Covington with the slaying of hospital technician Patricia McDermott last year; Covington later pleaded guilty but mentally ill. In New York, the Police Department will use federal funds to install 505 surveillance cameras around the city. O'Malley said he told Street the cameras have been popular in crime-troubled neighborhoods, where residents want as much help as possible fighting crime. "I told him that neighbors have reacted very strongly to the cameras, and for all of the civil rights concerns that got a lot of attention early on, really the general public was most concerned about safety in open spaces on their streets and around their homes," O'Malley said. Baltimore has 228 fixed cameras mounted in the city, said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. The city also uses 83 portable cameras. The cameras are used to monitor street activity 24 hours a day. The city paid for the cameras with local and federal money. In areas where police battle heavy drug crime, money forfeited from drug crimes is used along with local money. The city used federal homeland security funds to help get the system started for monitoring infrastructure like public transportation and the city's port. O'Malley and Street also discussed forming an agreement on how the cities would help each other in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. "We are 99 percent prepared to sign that agreement, and we look forward in the very, very near future to meeting at a common location and signing those agreements," Street said. ---------------------------------------------------
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