Phila. crime-fighting cameras arrive slowly

It sounded simple enough when Mayor John F. Street announced in October that the city would install 250 digital video cameras in some of its most dangerous neighborhoods - to deter crimes and help police investigate them. At the time, the city had 18 cameras working at 12 intersections in a pilot project, and then-Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter was an enthusiastic supporter of the proposal.

Five months later, the city has only five of the new wireless cameras online, as the system's bureaucratic and technological challenges are proving more complex than anticipated.

Although the project is at least two months behind schedule, the city's chief information officer, Terry M. Phillis, said yesterday that it could be finished by the October deadline.

Unisys Corp., the Blue Bell information technology company that was awarded the $8.9 million contract last year, did not anticipate the problems it would encounter in finding places to put the cameras, said Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety.

"They underestimated the amount of permitting or even coordinating" with Peco Energy and SEPTA, said Gillison.

That's because only about 10 percent of the cameras will go on city-owned utility poles. The pilot program involved only city poles, Phillis said.

About 80 percent of the new cameras will be hung on Peco poles, and the utility has rules about where those cameras can be installed, Phillis said.

This has resulted in negotiations that "took longer than anyone expected," Phillis added.

Unisys and Peco reached a blanket deal yesterday that clears the way for the cameras.

Crews will work in West Philadelphia, where the first five new cameras are in operation, first, installing 18 more at intersections in the vicinity of 52d and Market Streets.

Kensington and North Philadelphia are next.

SEPTA, however, presents another hurdle, particularly under the Market-Frankford El.

James Jordan, SEPTA's assistant general manager for public safety, said the transit agency has asked Unisys for engineering drawings for the wireless cameras to make sure they do not interfere with SEPTA signals or transmissions.

SEPTA is still waiting for those plans, Jordan said, and no agreement has been signed.

"We've tried to be cooperative on this side," said Jordan, who said the setup of a wireless video network is a complicated process.

Unisys spokesman Brian C. Daly referred questions to Phillis.

Phillis said the intervening months have not been wasted. Unisys has built for the city the ability to store video from 250 cameras for 30 days, and established a tamper-proof DVD-burning system that meets court standards for evidence.