Second phase of cameras slated for vote after 2 locations added
A tentative deal has been hatched to expand the anticrime cameras in Buffalo.
The agreement would involve adding two cameras to the next phase of the initiative, bringing the total number of new surveillance devices to 53. The additional cameras would be installed at Main and West Ferry streets and West Ferry and Herkimer streets.
The compromise was forged Wednesday during a meeting attended by a majority of city lawmakers and Police Captain Mark Makowski. While Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson must still approve the agreement, Makowski voiced confidence that Gipson will back a plan that is scheduled to be put to a Common Council vote on Tuesday.
City officials will have to find about $90,000 in additional money for the extra cameras. The second phase of the program will cost between $2.2 million and $3.7 million. State and federal grants will pay for the project.
Some lawmakers were hesitant to approve the new cameras, claiming numerous crime-prone intersections have been left out of the mix. The city installed 70 cameras in the first phase of the project. Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera, a retired Buffalo police officer, questioned the heavy concentration of cameras in business districts.
“I think the neighborhoods are getting the short-shrift,” Rivera said during the meeting Wednesday.
Police officials have stressed that locations are picked based on crime statistics, the availability of electrical hookups, the presence of clear sight-lines and other criteria.
There have been more than 250 requests for cameras, and Makowski said at least half of them would be “terrific locations.”
“But we just don’t have the money to put one on every street,” Makowski said.
Masten Council Member Demone A. Smith urged officials to include Main and West Ferry streets in the next installation phase. Rivera pushed for the site at West Ferry and Herkimer.
Council Majority Leader Richard A. Fontana said he believes the agreement would win the support of at least six lawmakers, the required number of votes to approve changes in a contract.
Assuming the Council approves the expansion, many new cameras will likely be installed this fall. The locations range from bustling intersections in the Chippewa Entertainment district to streets on the East and West sides, in North Buffalo and in South Buffalo.
Makowski said he hopes additional devices will be included in future phases.
“We’d like to add a ton of cameras to our system,” he told lawmakers.
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