Thursday, March 18, 2010

Subway cameras don't work

From AM-NY:

Nearly half of the 4,313 security cameras installed in the subway aren’t working because they are unable to power up or are suffering from software glitches, the MTA said Sunday. The need to have more surveillance in the system is a priority for transit advocates as the MTA prepares to lay off 600 station agents in May.

In the past decade, the MTA has installed cameras across the system at subway turnstiles, platforms and tunnels to combat crime and fare beating. But of the 2,000 cameras that only records footage and are placed around the turnstiles, nearly half aren’t working because they were never fully rigged, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.

The dead zones include 23 key stations, such as 53rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, where two violent crimes occurred in the last four months, according to union officials who service the cameras.

The MTA refused to talk about surveillance in specific locations, but Ortiz said that the agency will soon award a contract to get some 900 turnstile cameras up and running.

Another 1,100 cameras located throughout the system that would send live feeds and allow officials to monitor activity in real time are not working because of a software glitch, Ortiz said.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

These security cameras look like the ones installed at Francis Lewis High School; this means that those cameras may not be working either. They have been useful in the past, but may be expensive window dressing now.

Anonymous said...

Put them all on the internet and put them behind a payall and close the MTA budget gap.

Anonymous said...

I suppose that the criminals know this already.

Smilin' Jack said...

"Subway cameras don't work"

I've been smiling for nothin'?