City Experimenting With New Law Enforcement Technology
The Brockton, Mass., police force has started a pilot program to introduce wireless cameras and data transfer to the city, allowing officers to capture images of suspicious events and transmit them to receivers. The cameras, currently limited to a small area around City Hall, the police station, a high school, and an administrative building, capture images in analog form and then convert them to digital format, allowing them be transmitted and used as evidence in investigations.
If the pilot program proves successful, city officials will have the opportunity to purchase and expand the data system. It would cost between $1.5 million and $4 million to equip Brockton’s 57 buildings appropriately.
Crimson Security Group installed the camera system and TelcoHelp Communications set up the antenna gear. Don Dawson with TelcoHelp reports that the system also connects city phone lines in the buildings where it is deployed over a secure “campus” network. Crimson Security Group President Rich Cogliano says the camera recordings are time and date stamped, and the images are valid as court evidence.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from Enterprise (04/25/05); Kovalich, Jennifer .
