At last night’s meeting, the City Council discussed the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Maryland.
The University of Maryland Department of Public Safety (UMDPS) live monitors eighteen (18) CCTV security cameras in Old Town and three (3) CCTV cameras on Baltimore Avenue between Lakeland and Berwyn House Roads for a total of 21 cameras.
UMDPS provided this service at no cost for three (3) years until the original MOU expired at the end of FY14.
The draft MOU retroactively sets the cost of live monitoring City cameras from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, at a cost of $6,899 per camera, and from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, at a cost of $7,106 per camera.
The draft MOU provides an alternative such that UMDPS will provide record-only services for CCTV cameras at the annual unit prices: $13,482 for FY 20 and $13,881 for FY 21 If Council were to consider the alternative, the City would realize a savings of $135,345 beginning in fiscal year 20, which would allow the City to purchase approximately 6 cameras annually, including installation and maintenance by Hitachi, the City’s service provider for the City’s remaining cameras.
At the meeting, the COuncil requested the UMPD to provide data on existing cameras in relation to their effectiveness, such as crime incidents captured by these cameras that led to investigation or arrests. The COuncil is expected to discuss the data at a later time.