VIRGINIA BEACH
Inside the video operations room at the Second Precinct, Master Police Officer Matt McInerney cued up live feed on a computer monitor from a new surveillance camera seven blocks away.
He panned 17 blocks north using a joy stick and zoomed in on the brick facade of Mayflower Apartments. Then, he focused on a city sign near 19th Street. The message about refraining from cursing was clearly legible.
Given certain parameters, McInerney said, such as time, location and color of a person's clothing, the camera's software also can home in on a suspect.
Police currently manage 19 analog cameras in the resort area. With Phase I of a $7.5 million Oceanfront camera system project under way, those will be replaced with digital ones and six more will be added by July. A total of 85 cameras, from the Boardwalk to Birdneck Road, will be in place by 2018.
The ultimate goal is to maximize police coverage across the city, said Lt. Bob Christman of the department's support division.
"We're doing everything we can to provide a safe environment," he said.
The project includes plans to access cameras in the city's public schools and other municipal facilities such as rec centers and the aquarium to view live if an incident occurs, he said.
"With all the negativity surrounding police across the country, I personally think the more eyes we have, the better," said Sylvia Nery-Strickland, a member of the city's Human Rights Commission. "I don't see any public place as my private space - hence - no invasion of my privacy."
New cameras on the Boardwalk will be mounted on 25-foot poles west of the bike path near intersecting streets and connector parks at 2nd, 6th, 14th, 17th and 24th streets. There are no plans to mark the poles with police logos. The department will continue to have access to 13 traffic cameras at the Oceanfront.
The police department began using surveillance cameras at the Oceanfront in 1994 but has long lacked the resources to use them to the full extent.
"The challenge has always been having the staff," Christman said. Volunteers monitored the computer stations during busy summer months.
With funding in place from the city's Capital Improvement Program, the department will hire eight part-time employees.
If there's an incident, staff will be able to pan a camera 360 degrees, focus on the activity and start directing resources to officers in the field. Recorded footage will be available to the department for up to 30 days or longer if it's needed for evidence or prosecution, Christman said.
Cameras will be an important resource if there's an investigation of excessive police force, he said.
"We'll have the ability to show this is what exactly did occur," he said, adding that the department is working on getting body cameras for its officers.
Virginia Beach is not the only city using cameras to monitor areas where people congregate or where crimes have occurred.
Chicago has installed more than 1,000 on street poles and train tunnels in the past decade, and antiterrorism and traffic divisions work together to get access to private cameras in Nassau County, N.Y., a suburb on Long Island.
McInerney, who oversees the camera program at the Second Precinct, visited the county last fall to learn about its system. In March, Virginia Beach police monitored the Shamrock Marathon finish line near 31st Street using a hotel's camera feed with permission.
Tim Gavin, who used to work in federal law enforcement and lives at the Oceanfront, said an increase in cameras in the resort area is both good and bad.
"It helps protect us when the crime element is down here," he said.
On the flip side, Gavin said, it brings into question infringements on personal freedom.
"We want to have some rights," he said. "We want to have some privacy."
But Julieta Arcos, who works at a souvenir shop on Atlantic Avenue, wants more cameras on the resort's main thoroughfare.
"You'll feel more secure," she said. "It's good for me."
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com