Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs and a dozen city employees and interested parties traveled to New Orleans on Wednesday to observe a new, high-tech camera system for the city.
Project NOLA works with individuals, associations and communities to place cost-subsidized high-definition crime cameras, gun detectors, and license plate recognition cameras in necessary areas. Video is transmitted over the Internet to the Project NOLA National Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) at the University of New Orleans, where analysts provide valuable information to units responding to breaking crimes and dangerous situations.
The City of Vicksburg bus at the Project NOLA Operations Center at the University of New Orleans. Photo by David Day
Their operations center at the University of New Orleans is where Mayor Flaggs traveled to the company to see first-hand cameras and learn how they work. Military-grade cameras can pick up fine details over long distances, including serial numbers from weapons.
“They kept the weapon in the right position and our camera could not only identify the type of weapon, but it could get the serial number of the gun a few hundred feet away,” said Bryan Lagarde, executive director of Project NOLA.
Viewers including Chief of Police Penny Jones, both Aldermen Alex Monsour and Michael Mayfield, Lt Derrick Smith, representatives of Main Street, and concerned citizens gave a collective “Wow” to the video.
Kevin Mahoney, a member of the Wildwood Subdivision Neighborhood Watch, first heard about Chief Jones’ cameras.
“She was the Assistant Chief at the time and she came into our neighborhood surveillance program and mentioned the camera systems out there,” Mahoney said. “We watched some of them and settled on Project NOLA the way we wanted.”
Mahoney helped organize today’s trip to New Orleans to see the seat and showed the system to the townspeople.
Chief Jones, Mayor Flaggs, Lt Smith and Bryan Lagarde look at one of the high-end cameras. Photo by David Day
“We need this,” said Mayor Flaggs. “When someone fires a gun, the camera zooms in on the location of the gun. We’ll see the shooter, the gun, their car – everything!
Chief Jones, in an SMS reply, said: “We live in an age where we are dependent on technology. ‘One has to tell the story.’ We try to make Vicksburg safer. The police can not always be there, ‘ when a crime is committed, a camera will not let you down.It’s time for a change.The city of Vicksburg is ready.
Most of the cost of the cameras is covered by a subsidy, so the cost to the city is minimal. Neighborhood surveillance groups can also perform and pay an annual fee, starting at about $ 300 to have the cameras in their neighborhood.
Mayor Flaggs studies the screen on Project NOLA. Photo by David Day
“This is the most cost-effective program I have seen and it will be perfect for Vicksburg,” said Mayor Flaggs.
