Fishtown bolsters security across the neighborhood with high tech surveillance cameras
FISHTOWN - With all the crime spilling across Philadelphia, community members are coming together to provide an important tool – surveillance.
"They approached us and asked if we want to add more cameras. It was a no-brainer. It was like, ‘Why not?’" said Stefani Lee Ryan, General Manager of Joe's Steaks.
Gone are the days of fuzzy black and white surveillance footage, at least in several parts of Fishtown where the Fishtown Business Improvement District has taken advantage of the city’s business security camera program.
Marc Collazzo is the Executive Director and he saw an opportunity to bolster safety in the area, adding more than 60 cameras to several intersections in Fishtown.
"We get half reimbursement of our camera installations. We picked designated intersections, the busy ones, and through permission of the property owner, we installed the highest quality security cameras," Collazzo stated.
The cameras are state-of-the-art and include 4K quality and full-color night vision. They’re also capable of capturing license plates.
The cameras have already proven helpful to police in a homicide case at Cecil B. Moore and Front Street.
"Through our work with the police, we were able to identify the type of car and the cameras at Front and Girard caught the license plate. As a result, they were able to identify the driver and make an arrest," Collazzo commented.
Daniel Renn is the Vice President of Sales with Omega Security Systems, the private company tasked with installation of these cameras.
"We’re definitely giving Fishtown the latest and greatest technology," Renn added. He says the license plate cameras are game changers for the Philadelphia Police Department. "They’re blown away. Not a lot of people install license plate recognition cameras because they are expensive, but it gives that concrete evidence that police need."
Collazzo says it’s just phase one and he hopes to have many more businesses sign up for the program. "These are just the little tools that we can do that can help make everybody feel a little bit better about where they are."
Cameras are live and located at these intersections in Fishtown:
- Front and Girard
- Frankford and Girard
- Frankford and Shackamaxon/Thompson
More intersections have been improved and those include:
- Frankford and Lehigh
- Frankford and Columbia
- Frankford and Richmond and Allen
Anyone interested in the Fishtown security camera program can get more information here.