WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Officials have discovered video surveillance cameras downtown here either don’t work properly or were not being monitored.
West Palm Beach City Administrator Jeff Green says that some of the issues arise from plastic coating fogging over from sun exposure, which affects the picture. There were also instances where the cameras or city computers could not record video with enough resolution to product sharp enough pictures, as Green told My Palm Beach Post.
City officials have approved a $320,000 plan to update the cameras and the surveillance program.
“It’s a comprehensive rebuild of the surveillance systems,” Green says.
The original surveillance system was installed back in 2007 and was later expanded to 30 cameras. According to the report, a total of $465,000 was set aside in 2014 and 2015 by the Community Redevelopment Agency, but it went unused. The money went into a reserved fund and the agency is using those funds to restart the camera project.
“We’re trying to put in a system that will be ahead of the game instead of behind the game,” Green says.
