BUFFALO, N.Y.--The same night this city attached a surveillance camera to a light post in a crime-ridden neighborhood, a convenience store across the street fell prey to a pack of looters.
Police saw it all happening in real-time video from their new command station and arrived in time to make five arrests.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Advertisement
"It's had an immediate impact," Capt. Mark Makowski said of the wireless video surveillance solution provided by Firetide and Avrio Group, a 60-camera network that cost the city more than $3 million. "I'd say it's been money well spent."
Buffalo is among a host of cities that in the last few years have deployed wireless video surveillance systems in the fight against crime, says Mark Jules, president of business development at Avrio Group.
"If you look back to three or four years ago, we only (provided wireless video surveillance for) one city," he said. "Last year, we did three cities. So far this year, we've already done 18."
Michael Dillon, Firetide vice president of business development for public safety and municipal markets, attributes the technology's surging popularity to the "real and immediate results" that end users have been seeing.
Avrio Group's weatherproof, moveable PoleCams, coupled with Firetide's wireless mesh nodes, provide high-resolution video with zoom and tilt capabilities, and unlimited scalability, Dillon said. The cameras can capture crimes in progress, provide evidence after the fact, or enable police to see what's happening at a crime scene before they arrive.
Besides high crime areas, the city places cameras in business districts to promote economic growth, and near critical infrastructures to bolster homeland security.
"It's ears and eyes for us," Makowski said. "It certainly doesn't replace officers on the street, but it helps us to better use our resources."
While public surveillance has historically raised issues about personal privacy, Makowski said the only complaint he's heard from Buffalo residents is that there aren't enough cameras.
Since the installation began, he said, at least 75 people have called to ask for cameras in certain parking lots or neighborhoods around the city.
While not all of the requests can be satisfied, the city plans to add 40 more cameras to the network by the end of the year, Makowski said.
The ability to easily expand the network is one of its main selling points, Jules and Dillon agree.
"The real beauty of this is the ability to scale in the future," Jules said. "A lot of people in public safety have been burned by technology that they constantly have to start over with. This they can grow incrementally, and that's critically important. It allows them to start off with a modest camera deployment, and as money becomes available, keep adding more."
