Sky Cop on duty

Sky Cop on duty

WMPD setting up surveillance cameras around town

news@theeveningtimes.com

The City of West Memphis planned to be all-in with Sky Cop surveillance.

Three departments funded cameras for the cause. Four cameras were in use around town last year. The eyes in the sky were mounted on Walker Street at Broadway, Ingram Boulevard at E.

Barton, and Jackson at Avalon joining the camera installed earlier at the fallen officers memorial in Worthington Park.

The officers memorial was vandalized while private funds were being raised to monitor the area around it in the neighborhood park.

The other two cameras were added last year and deemed effective, so the city is expanding the effort in 2018.

The cameras will be pole mounted as opposed to the portable county sheriff camera often seen in retail parking lots. Marion already has a similar rig.

West Memphis sky cop cameras will be stationary and will soon pop up in an effort to deter crime.

Police Captain Joe Baker said results with the cameras on hand have been good.

“What we have seen more than anything is they are area excluders for crime,” said Baker.

The cameras were put in at some high crime intersections. The flashing blue lights make the cameras known and have delivered good results.

“We’ve had virtually nothing happen in the vicinity of those Sky Cops,” said Baker. “We had tons of stuff on South Avalon last summer. It used to be a super high crime area. We haven’t had anything in those area since the cameras.”

Another benefit of the cameras is it has helped pick up on license plate numbers from suspect vehicles.

“We have had some cars drive by that we have been able to use the cameras to get some footage, so that is why we want to keep building our stock up,” said Baker. “We feel like we can stop crime in certain high crime areas.”

The advertising and Promotions commission funded three of the new cameras for tourist areas in the city.

“They’ll go in the heavy tourism business corridors at intersections,” said Baker. “We will have one at the Big River Trail head parking lot, around Pancho’s. It was important to the A& P to have everyone using the trail feel protected and it covers the business area around Panchos and the motels there.”

There are two new cameras at the city shop. Baker said those cameras were under the control of Public Works.

“They are to cover the property at the shop and not for public surveillance,” said Baker. “They won’t cover anything for the public. They bought them for the shop property. Public works has the access to their cameras. I’m sure they’d give us permission to access them also.”

Some employees at the shop cried foul to City Councilman Willis Mondy about the cameras spying on the predominately Black workforce there but that no sky cops were planned for the utilities yard where the racial mix of employees is different. Mondy asked Utilities General Manager Todd Pedersen about surveillance during budget hearings.

Pedersen indicated no Sky Cop brand cameras were planned because the entire area is already under surveillance with other equipment integrated with the new city fiber optic network. There are cameras in the cash office, service bays, the gate, across the yard and in the break room. “We are planning more,” said Pedersen. “They are where all my line trucks and water trucks are sitting in the bays. We have cameras all through there protecting our equipment. It in the break room and at every gate.”

Pedersen said the city enjoyed more capability for other kinds of monitoring too.

“Every city building is networked together with fiber, like badge card access could be done at any city building,” said Pedersen.

As for the Sky Cop cameras under the control of the police, Baker said the rest of the cameras have a two month delivery.

“Three cameras were purchased by the police department will go more in high crime residential areas,” said Baker. “We have not made final location determinations.”

Baker said more cameras were hoped for later in the year.

“We have an electronics grant that we will use to purchase more cameras this year,” said Baker. “We could have another five or six rolled out later this year.”

For the Sky Cops already scheduled, the tally stood this way: Worthington Park, six to deter neighborhood crime, a pair at the street and sanitation shop, and four monitoring tourist spots for a total of 12 different locations.

By John Rech