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October 29, 2009
by Michael Duck
Plans to install digital surveillance cameras near a school in Easton's West Ward moved forward Wednesday, along with several other efforts intended to help with the policing in that neighborhood.
In a 6-0 vote, City Council approved a nearly $442,000 deal with Let's Think Wireless for the company to design and engineer a wireless camera system focusing on the area around Paxinosa Elementary School in the 1200 block of Northampton Street.
The camera project, in planning for nearly a year, was partly in response to a November 2007 triple homicide less than a block from the school, which was formerly Easton Area Middle School. Easton's West Ward has struggled for years with violence, drug dealing and other gang activity.
The cameras are part of a $526,000 crime-prevention effort, which relies on a $216,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice as well as $200,000 from the city, $100,000 from the Easton Area School District and $10,000 from the Easton Housing Authority, Police Chief Larry Palmer told council.
Officials agreed the camera system should be "100 percent wireless," Palmer said, noting that police had interviewed representatives from 14 companies before recommending the Let's Think Wireless contract. Officials have previously noted that wireless cameras would allow them to add cameras and move them around the city more easily.
Palmer has said the cameras should help police better monitor gang activity and drug deals, while also scaring off would-be lawbreakers from the area. He's also said the camera technology includes safeguards to protect individuals' privacy.
In addition to the cameras, the $526,000 effort will also pay for additional lighting at Paxinosa and officers' training, Palmer said.
On Wednesday, council also approved allocations of $940,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. Under a deal council reached Oct. 14, about 8 percent of those funds are earmarked for special policing in the West Ward, including extra patrols.
The remaining money is divided between other city expenses -- including code inspections, road repairs in the West Ward and improvements at Heil Pool on the city's South Side -- and programs run by a handful of independent nonprofits to aid the city's low-income residents.
Copyright © 2009, The Morning Call
About Let's Think Wireless, LLC
Headquartered in Pine Brook, NJ, Let's Think Wireless (LTW), a highly experienced, nationally recognized leader in the design and integration of wireless networks and applications both indoors and out, specializes in turnkey solutions that stretch across the Public Safety, Healthcare, Education, Manufacturing and Corporate verticals.
For more information, contact Mickey Branson, Senior Director of National Sales, at sales@ltw.com or 1-888-711-MILL (6455).
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