Pa. police's camera plan delayed
By David Gambacorta
The Philadelphia Daily News PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department won't be able to meet Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey's goal of adding 250 surveillance cameras throughout the city by the end of the year. Problems with the quality of cameras that have been produced by Unisys, the manufacturer, are forcing the department to drastically scale back their plan, Ramsey said last night after holding a community meeting in South Philadelphia. "When you look at them, the quality of the imaging isn't as clear as it needs to be, so we're not going to sign off on them," he said. The cameras, which were initially supposed to rely on wireless technology, are being reconfigured to improve the quality of images they capture, Deputy Commissioner Jack Gaittens said. The city initially had a contract with Unisys for cameras that was believed to be worth about $11 million, Gaittens said. The cost could rise when they finish reworking the cameras. Ramsey said that his crime plan called for increasing the number of city surveillance cameras from 26 to 250 because he believes their presence helps to deter crime. "Now I'm just hoping we'll be able to get 50 or 100 up this year. We'll see," he said. Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Daily News
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