Batavia adding 55 more surveillance cameras downtown
A few more eyes in the sky will watch Batavia more closely this summer as the city doubles its current surveillance measures this spring. But who will be monitoring on the other end is up in the air.
Batavia is adding 55 new cameras to public areas downtown and key city-owned facilities, bringing the total to 112 cameras.
The goal of the program is to ensure the safety of citizens during high-traffic times and to deter crime. The cameras will provide live feeds and compile recordings, which will be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests from the public.
There will be 29 cameras added in the downtown area. Six will be installed at various public works buildings, seven at each fire station and six at the city’s electrical substations.
City council members approved a contract with Aurora telecom company Scientel Solutions to install the cameras in December, despite some aldermen’s concerns about privacy and cost.
The city will pay $342,173 for the equipment and services and $24,240 annually for management and support services, which include 24/7 monitoring with dispatch services, repairs, maintenance and software updates. The annual fee will increase by 3% each year after the first year of the contract.
At the same meeting, the city council approved an intergovernmental agreement with the park district to install cameras on their properties, including the Peg Bond Center, along the Riverwalk and Houston Street.
Council members heard an update from staff on the project’s progress during their Tuesday committee of the whole meeting.
Assistant City Administrator Max Weiss told council members that while none of the new cameras are live yet, they have been installed at both fire stations, and the rest are expected to be installed and operational before the end of spring.
Signage will be installed in areas monitored by the cameras to notify the public where they are under surveillance.
Alderperson Leah Leman said it was still unclear who would have access to the footage, when and why, and asked Police Chief Eric Blowers for more detail about how that information would be monitored.
While Blowers did not say what specific types of staff besides police will be able to access the feed or recorded footage, he said anyone who accesses the system will need to explain their reasoning. He said the system automatically will log information on who accessed the footage, when, what footage was accessed, and why they needed to see it.
Weiss said before the new cameras go live, the city will create a policy that identifies who will have access to which cameras and reiterated that there will be extensive tracking of all actions made by anyone accessing the system.
Alderman Mark Uher asked Blowers what other reasons there might be for accessing footage besides during an open investigation.
“Should it not be that the only reason you would access footage is for an active investigation?” Uher asked Blowers.
Blowers stated that there are several reasons to access the live stream, including public safety concerns and monitoring large-scale events. However, he mentioned that they would only make duplicates of recordings when there is evidentiary value in them.