The end result is that the housing project has been homicide-free for more than a year; loitering and graffiti have been eliminated; and vehicle crime, burglaries and drug dealing have decreased. As a side effect, the video monitoring has increased staff productivity; instead of spending two or three hours to collect evidence, the digital video can be compiled in 20 minutes.

Lessons Learned
Every presenter stressed that the key to a successful municipal deployment is to get all the stakeholders involved early in the process. Otherwise, the project will be stymied by really stupid stuff. One town in Colorado had to get each of 1,100 access points to go through a separate review process to ensure that the boxes matched the approved architecture. In the San Diego rail project, the initial intent was to put a camera in the train engine—until the camera was pointed at the conductor, which generated trouble with the union.

These projects can be immensely complex because there are so many parties involved, because expectations are often set too high, and because so much of the technology is new and ever-changing. But, cautions Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, the technology uncertainty shouldn’t keep municipalities from participating. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be good enough. "Get off the technology train and get onto a platform," he urged.

—Esther Schindler