By: Diane Benjamin
Cameras are everywhere these days. It’s easy to see why retail stores have them – to prevent theft. Convenience stores have them, we’ve all seen video of robberies.
One thing both have in common is crime.
Why does the Town of Normal have them? If you take your kids to the Children’s Discovery Museum you are on video. Is there a lot of crime at CDM?
Tonight the Council will approve spending $49,463 to replace 15 camera and update 2 others. The Town has 125.
This is included in the documentation: PDF page 33 https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4188
What different departments? Why would any department but police have “needs”? In the private sector stored video is reviewed when there is a problem. Is Normal monitoring live video?
This is the company website: https://www.genetec.com/industries/cities
We know Normal wants to be a Smart City. From the company website:
Feel safe on video the Town of Normal controls? These cameras aren’t just for Law Enforcement, what other departments have “needs”?
This purchase is on the Omnibus Agenda which means unless somebody pulls it for discussion that question won’t be answered.
(FYI: The Town doesn’t provide free Wi-Fi in Uptown for your convenience!)
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Normal sending local money out of town. Sad.
Really good cameras can be bought these days for about $200 each. They’re good for about 100ft, hot & cold weather, day or night, clear as a bell. Another colossal ripoff of the citizens’ tax money.
The high schools also have cameras everywhere so they can catch kids committing crimes on campus.
I don’t agree with the police state but some of these cameras are at intersections prone to traffic accidents. These cameras have a live feed to the dispatch center. Its crucial when an accident occurs to get live feed information to officers and EMS in order to shut down lanes on roads like Veterans Parkway during busy hours and also aids in quicker response times.