Montco D.A. funding 10 street surveillance cameras in Pottstown
Surveillance cameras: District Attorney’s office to help install 10 in Pottstown Proven effective: Similar system in Lansdale dropped crime 36% in 5 years
POTTSTOWN >> Those engaged in criminal acts on the streets of Pottstown will soon find their acting has been captured on camera and their close-up takes place in a courtroom.
Just two weeks after announcing a new program designed to focus prosecutor efforts on Pottstown crime, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office unveiled a program to install the first of 10 street surveillance cameras in the borough.
“This is another example of this office’s commitment to this community,” Brianna Ringwood, assistant district attorney and Captain of the D.A.’s Community Prosecution Unit in Pottstown, told borough council Wednesday during a presentation on the program.
“Cameras like the ones to be installed in Pottstown have the capability of producing clear images by day and by night and have been proven to be key tools in apprehending suspects and aiding investigations and prosecutions,” Ringwood said in a statement issued by the D.A.’s office.
The mounted cameras can be moved to other locations as the need exists.
Ringwood said the D.A.’s office has worked with police to identify crime “hot spots” to determine where the first cameras will be placed.
They send a wireless signal to monitors which will be set up in the dispatch office of the Pottstown Police Department.
The system can be expanded to include as many as 36 cameras “and we are looking to partner with community stakeholders and businesses for the expansion of the system as more cameras mean more areas that are safer,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said in the press release.
And they will be safer, according to Pottstown Police Chief Richard Drumheller.
He said the system to be installed in Pottstown is the same as one being used in Lansdale “and their overall crime rate has dropped by 36 percent in the five years that they have been using them.”
“Cameras are the wave of the future in policing,” Drumheller said. “This system is like assigning a minipatrol officer to watch your street 24/7.”
Borough Councilman Ryan Procsal, who represents Pottstown’s First Ward, which has one of the borough’s highest crime rates, couldn’t agree more.
“I receive more crime and nuisance related complaints than any other,” Procsal said in a statement read aloud to council Wednesday.
“Despite the best efforts from our dedicated police department, we’ve had difficulty suppressing the amount of violent crimes in the last couple of years,” Procsal said.
But in his neighborhood, cameras he installed on his own property helped make a difference.
“I was able to successfully push out most the nuisance and drug related problems on my block with the footage from my small cameras system and with the help from our Community Response Unit. I’m excited to see what system of this caliber can do for our town,” Procsal said.
“My cameras are worth their weight gold. We had some real knuckleheads on my block — drug dealing and constant noise until sometimes 4 a.m., even some gun violence,” Procsal wrote in an email to The Mercury. “Once I could show the PD what was really going on with video clips, not the sometimes vague, word-of-mouth complaints people give, I got almost immediate results.”
“Real-time monitoring by police is a key element to the effectiveness of the cameras,” Ringwood said. “This is not a hair-brained idea. It has been proven to work.”
She pointed to a 2011 study by the Urban Institute, which concluded that surveillance cameras aid in preventing crime, aiding arrests and supporting investigations.
“Roughly four months after cameras were installed downtown (Baltimore) in 2005, crime dropped by more than 30 percent per month on average,” according to the study. “By 2008, the lower numbers were holding steady.”
The study — which looked at efforts in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington, D.C. — also concluded that the costs of implementing and monitoring the surveillance system were outweighed by the savings in police, court and corrections costs.
In Chicago, the city spent about $190,000 a month on monitoring a section of the city named Humboldt Park, but saved $815,000 a month on criminal justice costs, victims’ financial and emotional costs, the study found.
The cost of installing the infrastructure for the system — and the first year of maintenance — will be borne by the county, which is using funds confiscated during criminal prosecutions to pay for the system.
But other costs will have to be paid from other sources.
Ringwood said council should consider including costs for expanding the system in its budget, as well as looking for contributions from businesses and other organizations.
“The project is an investment in Pottstown’s future, but it’s not the end” Ringwood said. “We can’t do it alone. The community has to work together.”
Ringwood said she attended the first town talk meeting held Monday at Connections on High and while there, “I heard a desire for people who want come out of houses and feel safe,” she said. “Cameras can help.”
Borough council endorsed the initiative Aug. 1 in a unanimous vote.