Downtown Ridgeland camera system expected by year's end

Ridgeland police plan to install security cameras in high-traffic areas around town, likely by the end of the year.

Police will operate more than a dozen cameras to monitor well-traveled areas like Turpin Park and downtown businesses, using them to prevent and solve crimes, Ridgeland police chief Richard Woods said.

Woods said the camera system had been in development for about a year and was not in response to any recent rash of crimes. A vendor to install the cameras was selected in the spring, he said.

The 16-camera system will operate on a 30-day recording loop and an officer will not be assigned to monitor the system fulltime. The system will mainly be utilized to retrieve video evidence when a crime occurs, but the cameras also have the ability to be programmed to notify officers of motion or attempted vandalism to the camera, Woods said.

The cameras can track motion in the middle of the night, allowing the department to program the cameras to notify patrol officers of movement after dark in places such as Turpin Park.

Police out on patrol will have a monitor of the camera's live feed from the department office, and officers will also be able to pull up surveillance video on their onboard computers, Woods said. The officer will also be able to control the cameras from their patrol cars, allowing them to zoom and pan to assess the area before arriving.

The camera system will cost $110,000, paid entirely through funds from asset forfeiture, Woods said.

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This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Downtown Ridgeland camera system expected by year's end."