New Haven is spearheading an effort to set up a wireless system to coordinate the security cameras at Connecticut's three deep water ports, the New Haven Register reports.
The proposal would install wireless equipment and software to bring the camera systems together on a single viewing platform. Access would be granted to law enforcement agencies, port operators, the Coast Guard, emergency management agencies, and other approved parties. The system would put the ports under closer scrutiny by allowing more agencies to monitor the activities via the camera footage.
Robert Smuts, New Haven's chief administrative officer, wrote to the city's Board of Aldermen that the "regional enhanced wireless network" would be a shared asset among the cities, ports, and Coast Guard stations in and New Haven. The newspaper reported that New London collaborates with Groton and Waterford in port activities and that Lt. David Burton of the Waterford Police Department is leading the camera regionalization effort for the port.
Under the proposal, New Haven would seek $600,000 from the Department of Homeland Security's Port Security Grant Program to fund the network. The department has $97.5 million available for the federal 2012 fiscal year, which concludes at the end of September.
The New Haven Board of Aldermen's Public Safety Committee will hear the plan at its meeting tonight.
