Calling for the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Public Safety to hold hearings on the status of the City's surveillance camera program.

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia has invested more than $14 million in police surveillance cameras, guided by law enforcement experience that surveillance cameras can turn high crime areas into safer streets; and

WHEREAS, The City's program has never been fully implemented and as a result the promise of crime-deterrence and better law enforcement has not been realized; and

WHEREAS, Last summer, Controller Alan Butkovitz released an audit that said less than half of the cameras in the City were working; and

WHEREAS, Administration officials acknowledge having problems with the system with the Police Department deciding which cameras to fix first; and

WHEREAS, Baltimore has been fighting crime in the last decade with a huge network of surveillance cameras tied into a central police command center under a program known as Citiwatch; and

WHEREAS, Baltimore now has 622 cameras, and 97 percent were functioning during a recent visit by Council members; and

WHEREAS, For a city the size of Baltimore to have 622 cameras online with a 97 percent operable rate, it's clear that the City of Philadelphia has to do better; now therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Philadelphia City Council, Calls for the Council Committee on Public Safety to hold hearings on the status of the City's surveillance camera program.

End