PRESS RELEASE
6/1/07

United Way Supports Brockton Police Camera Surveillance Project

Mayor James E. Harrington, the City of Brockton, the Brockton Rotary, and the United Way of Greater Plymouth County have joined forces to collaborate on the purchase of a city-wide state-of-the-art surveillance camera system to be used by the Brockton Police Department. This system will combine IP cameras, wireless digital technology, and a local server at the police department to monitor criminal activity in high crime neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have been identified by analyzing crime data conducted over the past year.

The Mayor's Office, the Brockton Rotary, the Brockton Police Dept., and United Way of Plymouth proudly announce a new public safety and fundraising campaign "Not Just Watching You, Watching Out for You!" This unique partnership seeks to bring together committed business members, law enforcement, and the social service industry to help our city better combat crime within our community. Dan Murphy from the Brockton Rotary was recently quoted as saying, "We hope to leverage our business community as well as private citizens to provide the necessary resources for the safety of our city." In keeping with this sentiment, Brockton Police Chief Conlon was quoted as saying "Crime is not just a police problem, it's a community problem, and we appreciate the Rotary spearheading this valuable campaign. Our police budget does not allow for the purchase equipment of this sophistication." According to Dennis Carman, President & CEO of the United Way of Greater Plymouth County, "this new initiative is a creative, non traditional partnership between law enforcement, local business and community services that addresses in an effective way the very real problems of violence on our streets". Carman explained that recently the United Way had received 240 responses to an informal community needs survey with over 50% of the people responding indicating teen violence as a major concern.

While some believe that this technology invades people's privacy, the technology in place with this new system has the capability to mask windows when scanning the streets. The privacy rights of our residents is of a major concern to Mayor Harrington and his administration, and he is committed to assuring those rights are respected.

Mayor Harrington stated that "We hope that other businesses and private citizens will join in helping us fund this needed program!" NOT JUST WATCHING YOU, WATCHING OUT FOR YOU.