By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green police officers can’t be everywhere – but with the help of new cameras they will have a view of most of the downtown area.
The city will soon be installing 19 new police cameras in the downtown. Each of the 19 units has three cameras – allowing for constant 180 degree coverage. The cameras are stationary, so they don’t miss areas while panning.
Such coverage would have come in handy during incidents such as the recent brawl on East Court Street in which multiple people were arrested by police.
The units cost $2,000 each – adding up to $38,000 for all the new cameras. The units will be installed once they are all painted the same dark green as the light posts downtown.
The city already has 16 cameras downtown, with some being in the parking lots behind businesses. But some are no longer working, and nearly all are unable to take images with the clarity of new cameras, according to Police Lt. Dan Mancuso.
The new higher quality cameras, aided by improved fiber network in the city, will provide more consistent video, Mancuso explained. Prior to the improved fiber network, the video images from the downtown cameras often stalled.
Mancuso told about an incident in the 100 block of South Main Street when a gunshot was reported. The video from the police cameras showed a crowd gathering, then the footage froze. Then it picked up again and showed the crowd scattering – completely missing the actual shooting.
The new video will be higher quality and much more useful in investigating and prosecuting crimes, Mancuso said.
The new cameras will be installed in the 100 blocks of North and South Main streets, the 100 blocks of East and West Wooster streets, and the 100 block of East Court Street.
The improved video will provide more seamless footage of incidents like hit-skip crashes – which will aid in identifying drivers by their licenses plates.
The cameras will not be used to catch motorists who are speeding or who run red lights. And the vast majority of the footage will go unviewed – unless it’s needed to identify suspects.
“The recall is the big thing,” Mancuso said.
The city’s downtown cameras record constantly. The images can be pulled up in police dispatch if necessary – and they can aid in quicker response to traffic congestion problems downtown.
The video will not be used to nab someone for an offense like public urination. However, it can be a helpful tool when dealing with “more significant offenses” like assaults, Mancuso said.
Video coverage would have been helpful in the recent fight on East Court Street that resulted in multiple charges and assaults on police officers. Though many bystanders filmed the incident on their cell phones, constant video coverage would have caught the events that led up to the fight, Mancuso said.
“It would have been nice to have coverage there,” he said.
It’s gotten to the point that citizens are accustomed to video of incidents in public areas being available to police.
“The public expects nowadays there’s going to be video,” Mancuso said.
