Law Enforcement Associates (LEA) will provide the Denver Police Department with eight of its Graffiti Cam units free of charge.LEA will also provide free training to the Denver Police Department on product set up and installation, as well as free ongoing maintenance and 24-hour tech support. If the department is satisfied with the results at the end of the 30-day beta test, the units will be transferred to the Denver Police Department.
"Denver's city government alone spends close to $1 million each year on graffiti remediation, and it's among the top concerns of our citizens," said Hickenlooper. "Our partnership with LEA is helping us leverage the latest technology to step up our anti-graffiti efforts. We hope to lead the way and share our success with other cities looking to address this costly public nuisance."
The Graffiti Cam is LEA's newest surveillance solution that covertly and proactively notifies law enforcement of graffiti crimes in progress. When the video recording unit is activated via graffiti-related motion, it sends real-time text alerts of the event to designated mobile phones, as well as JPEG images of the event to designated e-mail addresses, enabling law enforcement to dispatch resources and catch taggers in the act. Video footage of the event can also be used as evidence against offenders.
"A major step in eliminating the graffiti problem is catching taggers 'red handed' rather than trying to track them down after the fact. The Graffiti Cam enables law enforcement to do so," said Paul Feldman, LEA's president and chief executive officer. "We're confident the City and County of Denver will experience significant cost savings within 30-45 days through graffiti-related arrests and restitutions."
The beta test supports the Graffiti Task Force's goal of drastically reducing graffiti in Denver in the next three years through prevention, abatement and enforcement. The task force, created by Hickenlooper following the city's 2006 Graffiti Summit, made recommendations to the mayor and city council to comprehensively address graffiti vandalism.
"The implementation of the Graffiti Cam is further proof that we will not back down on this issue," said Montero. "Exploring the benefit and use of new technologies allows us to identify effective solutions for addressing Denver's graffiti problem."
"The benefit of the Graffiti Cam is really two-fold," said Whitman. "We are alerted to crimes as they're happening so we can make arrests on the spot, but we also have video footage to help us identify suspects after the crime has taken place. The Graffiti Cam will also help us reduce related crimes such as vandalism, theft and gang activity."
