In an effort to boost a sense of safety throughout Forest Heights, the town is in the process of installing seven new high-definition surveillance cameras to monitor high-crime areas and aid in police investigations.
http://liarcatchers.com/electronic_surveillance.html
Forest Heights surveillance camera locations
Current:1 — Municipal building at 5508 Arapahoe Drive2 — Intersection of Livingston Road and Indian Head Highway3 — Intersection of Livingston Road and Indian Head Highway4 — 5500 block of Livingston RoadFuture:5 — Intersection of Livingston Road and Comanche Drive6 — Intersection of Livingston Road and Modoc Lane7 — Intersection of Sachem and Woodland drives
Four cameras were installed in January and February, and police hope to have three additional cameras installed in April.
Forest Heights police Chief Frank Webb said currently, each of the cameras is linked to the town’s police station, where footage can be monitored, but added that when the full installation is complete each police vehicle’s computer will have access to all seven cameras’ surveillance so officers can monitor different locations while on patrols.
The Forest Heights department has five full-time officers including the chief, as well as one reserve officer, and Webb said they are looking to hire two additional officers in the near future. Webb would not say how many police vehicles the department has registered.
Webb said funding for the seven cameras came from the town’s speed camera fund, but was not able to confirm by press time the cost of each camera or the total installation. He said any money received from the town’s speed cameras can be used for public safety initiatives.
“This is not a cure-all for crime, but it will allow us to solve any type of major crimes that may take place here in Forest Heights,” he said, noting that the cameras will help police identify suspects or vehicles involved in crimes such as robberies, homicides and sex offenses.
Webb said the cameras were purchased roughly two years ago from Fairfax, Va.-based security systems company Seeview Security Inc. as a way to use updated technology for police assistance.
“We’re trying to make Forest Heights a safer community and keep up with modern technology,” Webb said.
Forest Heights Mayor Jacqueline Goodall said the additional cameras will be installed on top of existing telephone poles, rather than purchasing new poles solely for cameras.
She said in addition to the cameras nearing installation, the town wants to add several more cameras and will host a series of community meetings to determine the locations for each additional camera.
“We have to go through a whole process for this,” she said. “We’re doing this so we’ll have extra assistance for Forest Heights police so that they have all of the tools they need to ensure the safety of the town and its residents.”
Webb said the most common incidents in the town are loitering and panhandling, which he said happen every day and hopes the cameras will help combat the number of incidents.
Newly elected Councilman Larry Stoner (Ward 3), a retired Metropolitan Police Department officer and a former mayor in the town, said the cameras themselves should benefit the police department by aiding in their investigations after crime occurs, but said crime prevention is key.
“We need community police officers, not officers who want to be in big city police departments,” he said. “We have crimes happening during the day, and with a small community like ours, that shouldn’t happen.”
Stoner said the camera’s recordings will aid the department in a case after a crime is committed but would like to see more patrolling and physical presence throughout the town.
Surrounding the recent town council election March 14, many voters voiced concerns with town policing, also noting that they would like to see more of a patrolling presence in town neighborhoods.
Webb said there always are some residents who will “complain that they never see police” but noted that the department is patrolling and policing the neighborhoods.
“We are not using [the surveillance cameras] to try and take the workload off of our officers,” Webb said.
Cliff Atkinson, chairman of the Forest Heights Citizens Police Board, said the new cameras will be a great asset to the town’s police department and hopes they will deter criminals.
“The cameras will be great. I wish we had them before,” Atkins said, noting that the town’s neighborhood watch has been around since the 1980s. “It will help the police see what’s going on, on one side of the town while being on the other.”
