The Burlington City Council on Monday voted to purchase 100 new security cameras to replenish and expand the devices already installed all over the Queen City. The motion passed 10-4.
New cameras will join the 200 city operated and maintained security cameras already installed throughout Burlington. The council voted to allocate up to $425,000 to purchase and install the cameras as well as a new software system.
About 12 cameras will be immediately installed to replace broken ones, and another 15 to 20 will be placed at key city sites that do not currently have public cameras, such as Leddy Park, Fletcher Free Library and more areas of Church Street. According to a city memo, the remaining cameras will remain on hand to combat “supply chain issues” that may arise in the future.
“The software that runs the security cameras has reached end of life, and the servers cannot be expanded to accommodate more video storage,” said Scot Barker, Burlington Chief Innovation Officer. “As a result, the City is in a position where the system and servers must be replaced with new, larger, faster, and more capable components.”
However, not everyone on the 12-member council fully agreed with Barker’s urgency. Four out of six of the council’s progressive members voted against the additional cameras. Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, Joe Magee, P-Ward 3, Ali House, P-Ward 8, and Perri Freeman, P-Central District cast “no” votes, largely citing lack of information and privacy concerns.
Magee was the first to speak out against the cameras. “The concerns that I have relate to the scope and the scale of these updates,” he said. “Without seeing the policy that is used for camera deployment, without seeing the policy connected to how the video captured is used, I cannot support this item tonight.”
Barker called the cameras “ironically one of the few systems in the city that we propose, purchase, help install and never get to touch again,” noting that “it’s all through police dispatch.” The Burlington Police Department keeps security camera footage for about 90 days, Barker said.
Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District, chimed in with a different point of view saying she would support “cameras on every bike rack in the city” if it meant that crime would be deterred. She also disagreed with her colleagues’ privacy concerns, noting that anyone with a cell phone can record and post videos online. Magee responded that cell phone footage is not immediately sent to police.
The conversation concerning “Big Brother” public safety continued when Mayor Miro Weinberger reminded councilors of the role public security cameras played in arresting two individuals in connection with a recent murder in City Hall Park. He called the cameras critical in reconstructing events of the homicide.
Councilor Gene Bergman, P-Ward 2, agreed with Magee’s concerns but voted to approve the cameras due to cost increases associated with delaying the purchase. Barker’s memo to the council notes that while the price of the cameras will remain the same, the cost of the software will increase by as much as $85,000. Bergman suggested that a presentation on the city’s camera policy be made a priority and presented to the council as well as to the public.