Mahoney said that Chicago, one of the first cities to deploy a network of cameras to fight crime, is also updating its system so that more of the cameras are wired back to monitoring centers. Chicago police did not respond to a request for information yesterday.
Police stressed that the only cameras to be phased out are the "podds" and that they will likely be replaced with CCTV units. Bealefeld said police will continue to work with neighborhood leaders who feel a portable camera would be effective.
The portable cameras cost about $30,000 apiece -- significantly less than the more sophisticated closed-circuit units -- and officials said that at the time they were a good option to complement better systems in the works.
FOR THE RECORD - Because of incorrect information supplied by the Baltimore Police Department, an article in yesterday's editions of The Sun incorrectly reported the name of one type of police camera system used to monitor city streets. The cameras are called PODSS, which stands for Portable Overt Digital Surveillance System.
The Sun regrets the error.
Bealefeld said police are working with IBM to build a network that is better integrated with city dispatch. He also said facial recognition cameras may be the next iteration of available technology.
How effective?
Opinions vary on how effective the current system has been. A Jessamy spokeswoman said yesterday that the cameras do not produce reliable evidence.
"They are an expensive operation, and for the purpose of prosecution and evidence they really have had very little effect on building more cases," said Margaret Burns, a Jessamy spokeswoman.
A camera positioned at Calhoun and Cumberland streets did help homicide detectives solve a November 2006 murder. In that case the footage documented an assailant as he used a tree branch to bash a man sleeping on a park bench.
The victim then fell to the ground, and the suspect left him for dead.
Homicide detectives found the assailant's cell phone and located his sister. Though the footage was hard to make out, police said, she was able to identify her brother as a suspect.
Police spokesman Sterling Clifford offered recent examples of how the closed circuit cameras were used to help police further investigations -- even if the video never winds up in court.
On May 11, camera monitors spotted a man walking in the 200 block of East Lombard Street with a handgun around 2 a.m., he said. The man and another person connected to him were arrested and charged with illegal possession of a handgun.
On the same day, police responded to a shooting on the 2700 block of Monument St. A camera showed the argument that led up the shooting and allowed police to narrow their investigation to a suspect who was later charged with three counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault.
