SAGINAW, Mich. — The police department here is better equipping the town to keep an eye out for crime.
City Council approved the Saginaw Police Department’s purchase of the Milestone Enterprise Video Management Software (VMS) to store and view video obtained from the city’s 36 video surveillance cameras, according to MLive. The news comes after the recent announcement that all police officers in the city will be equipped with body cameras after a successful trial period.
Police Chief Robert Ruth said the new software — which was purchased for $2,223.75 — and changes to the location of the cameras will result in a far more useful surveillance system.
“This will make things a whole lot easier,” he said of the technology update.
The primary reason for purchasing the new software is to store more video. The police department is currently only able to store two weeks’ worth of surveillance footage. Now, the video will be stored on servers at City Hall that have a much higher storage capacity, according to the report.
The surveillance cameras were initially installed back in 2012, but changes to neighborhoods in the city had the cameras pointing at empty lots instead of areas of high crime. Some have been moved since then, including two just prior to the Fourth of July in 2015. Ruth says the new camera positions have already shown a drop in crime.
