The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday will vote on whether to enter into an agreement with Alabama Power to install 95 surveillance cameras in the Central Park, Ensley, Gate City and Kingston neighborhoods in an effort to fight crime.
Jim Stanley, of the Birmingham law department, told city councilors last week that the surveillance cameras would be installed through a pilot program with Alabama Power. The Jefferson County Metro Area Crime Center will monitor the cameras not Alabama Power, he said.
The camera content and locations are confidential, according to the contract between Birmingham and Alabama Power. The 95 cameras, which will include 24 pan, tilt and zoom cameras, 17 dome cameras and 54 license plate recognition cameras, will be installed on 64 power poles. The cameras can produce 182 video streams.
The location of the cameras are subject to change.
Birmingham City Councilor Hunter Williams, who chairs the council's public safety committee, praised the program in a committee meeting last week.
"This is one more tool our police department will be able to use in their constant daily fight to make Birmingham a more livable city," he said.
The agreement with Alabama Power is for five years at an estimated cost of $672,000 annually, which will be paid in monthly installments of $56,000.
According to the city's contract with Alabama Power, the cameras will be capable of producing footage, which be an archived for 24 hours a day and for 30 days, providing detailed and fluid video information for incident investigation. The cameras would provide "situational awareness in the field" during emergency operations. The presence of the surveillance cameras will be deterrent on crime.
Also, according to the contract, the cameras will be accessible to third-party agencies such as Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and other state and local responders.
Alabama Power will be responsible for the cost of repairing or replacing any equipment damaged or destroyed due to vandalism or other abuse for a calendar year limit of $10,500, according to the contract.
If approved by the city council, the cameras could be installed in about 90 days.