Saturday, June 17, 2017

Scaled back DPD camera proposal gets green light

aShortChronicle told readers last week about a proposal by the Davidson Police Department to install cameras and licence plate readers around town.

On Tuesday the Board passed a slightly scaled back proposal to do just that.  The proposal will place cameras and licence plate readers at the "ingress and egress" points around town which will allow the DPD to know who is coming and going to and from town whenever there is a crime.   The original proposal also involved a few cameras internal to town, but those did not make the cut.

Here's the dollars and cents as presented on Tuesday by Town Manager Jamie Justice and Finance Director Pietre Swart.


The bulk of the funding comes from the existing FY2017 DPD budget as well as FY2017 contingency funds set aside by the Town for just such things that come up during the year.  Only $20k is being pulled from the town savings (aka fund balance).

During Commissioner comments, Commissioner Graham referenced the recent break in off Davidson Concord Rd as an example where this tool could be useful, noting its ability to let investigators know who is entering town at 4:30 in the morning.  Commissioner Fuller, who had initially expressed reservations with the cameras when the idea was presented in May, relayed that after having met with Chief Miller and senior DPD members, Steve Ingram and Jay Stokes, he had changed his opinion and had his civil liberties concerns largely addressed.

After Commissioner Fuller motioned to approve the camera budget amendment, it passed unanimously 4-0 with Commissioner Cashion absent.  No date for the project implementation was set.

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