Citiwatch

Faced with greatly reduced federal and state funding since September 11, 2001, and the increased demands to develop more effective crime prevention and reduction strategies, law enforcement agencies like the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) are turning to technological systems to enhance operational capacities, extend their reach, and reduce costs. One of the promising and emerging technologies is the CCTV camera. These systems can serve many purposes such as possible detection/deterrence, citizens feeling increased security, allowing for more effective deployment strategies, and aiding in prosecutions. BPD intends to use the 82 additional cameras to enhance other crime prevention interventions in three targeted areas selected for their disproportionate share of violent crime: Greenmount Avenue, Monument Avenue, and Lower Park Heights. BPD Purchased the CCTV cameras through funding obtained from asset forfeiture and the Abell Foundation provided $200,000 in funding to support the hiring of nine retired police officers to monitor the cameras 24 hours a day. These positions will be submitted for inclusion in the FY07 budget after BPD has had the time to demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention.

Until the mid-1980s, deployment of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems had largely been limited to private spaces such as financial institutions. The appearance of these systems in public settings is a more recent phenomenon and brings with it a diverse array of goals and objectives such as public safety, deterrence, enhanced detection, and increased response times. CCTV surveillance systems are currently in operation in the United Kingdom; Australia; and a number of sites in the United States such as Jersey City, Wilmington, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, and Baltimore. Baltimore’s model is unique in the United States in that it includes around-the- clock monitoring of the surveillance cameras similar to the operation in London, England. Jersey City is the only other CCTV system in the United States that is being monitored around-the-clock; however, this is being done by civil servants, not retired police officers as in the Baltimore model. Many other locations, such as New York, only monitor during big events.

As of April 30, 2006, the areas monitored by the CCTV cameras have experienced a 17 percent reduction in crime and 960 arrests are directly related to the use of the Citiwatch cameras. The Police Department’s 311 operators have had over 600 requests for cameras to be installed in the caller’s neighborhood.