Pittsburgh calls for more cameras
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On the same day that police said security camera footage helped them nab two teenagers charged with murdering a retired firefighter, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced Thursday that he wants to put 220 more electronic eyes on city streets.
The city, Community College of Allegheny County and Carnegie Mellon University jointly requested $12 million to $14 million in federal stimulus money to buy the cameras, install a wireless network for operating them and develop software for sorting the images.
The cameras would give the city around-the-clock monitoring, while software developed at CMU would allow authorities to sort untold numbers of images for information needed to solve crimes. For example, the software potentially could find images of a certain type or color of car, said Howard Stern, the city's chief information officer.
The use of security cameras and the information they gather was established in June 2008 through public hearings and discussions with groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union.
"The video security project will dramatically enhance the city's public-safety and Homeland Security capabilities," Mr. Ravenstahl said in a statement.
Police said cameras owned by Brightwood Civic Group led them to Cordell Brown, 17, and Tyrone Thomas, 16, charged with the March 14 slaying of retired North Side firefighter Mark Barry.
The set of four cameras looking onto Woodland and Shadeland avenues was installed about a year ago with a grant provided by Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris.
Besides the murder, the cameras have helped police crack two burglaries, including one at the building where the cameras are mounted. "Obviously, it got solved," civic group President Diane Annis-Dixon said.
Mrs. Harris said she's tapping Neighborhood Needs and Community Development Block Grant money to provide cameras to all neighborhoods in her district. When the first round is completed, she said, she'll start giving each neighborhood a second set.
Originally wary of being watched by "Big Brother," Ms. Annis-Dixon said she now supports the idea of installing the cameras city-wide.
The city, CMU and CCAC want to tap some of the $2.6 billion available in the second round of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, administered by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
First Published April 2, 2010 12:00 am
