TRAGEDY MAKES AN IMPACT

60 surveillance cameras added in Oakland in wake of student’s slaying

In the 10 months since University of Pittsburgh student Alina Sheykhet was killed in her Oakland apartment, the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, working with the school and UPMC, have installed 60 surveillance cameras in that area.

During a news conference Tuesday at which District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. announced the camera installation, 16 separate live feeds rolled on a screen behind him. They showed Bates Street and UPMC Presbyterian hospital and other locations throughout south and central Oakland.

The cost was $95,000, with UPMC contributing $65,000, and Pitt and the DA’s office each giving $15,000.

“It’s a minimal investment when you’re talking about protecting our kids,” Mr. Zappala said.

The project was initiated after Ms. Sheykhet, 20, was killed in her Cable Place apartment on Oct. 8. Her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Darby, is charged in her death and could face the death penalty if he is convicted of firstdegree murder.

In that case, police obtained video from a pizza shop that had security cameras outside, Mr. Zappala said. According to police, it showed Mr. Darby hiding a claw hammer and two knives in a sewer drain.

“That’s happenstance,” Mr. Zappala said of those cameras. “This is a much more comprehensive effort, and Alina’s death had a lot to do with it.”

Attorney Robert Del Greco Jr., who has been assisting the Sheykhet family, praised the project Tuesday. When Elly Sheykhet, the victim’s mother, learned of the cameras, Mr. Del Greco recounted, she said, “’Wow, Alina is making a difference.’”

Mr. Zappala said about 70 percent of criminal incidents in Oakland occur in the residential community, home to many college students.

“I want this to be a deterrent to someone getting hurt,” he said. “This is part of what’s going on countywide. This camera system can be reactive and proactive.”

In Oakland, six cameras now that have license-plate recognition, creating what the DA said are virtual checkpoints. They bring the total number of such checkpoints to 60 across Allegheny County. There are about 450 surveillance cameras in the county.

Mr. Zappala praised the

systems for helping to reduce crime on the South Side by 37 percent during the first quarter of 2018 from the same period in 2017.

“The technology is a force multiplier, not only for crime prevention but for investigations, as well,” said Castle Shannon police Chief Ken Truver,chair of the executive committee of the county police chiefs association.