BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A seven-camera video surveillance system has been approved for Burlington’s City Hall, in response to worker safety concerns.
Police Chief Michael Schirling said the cameras come in response to threats against city employees, including “an ongoing issue with threats via email and over Facebook.” He said police have investigated the incidents, but no arrests have been made.
Schirling said the cameras were “best practices.”
Police responded to City Hall about 15 times last year, the Burlington Free Press (https://bfpne.ws/PhkClZ) reported.
“City Hall employees, at a series of meetings in the late summer and fall, raised concerns about their personal safety following threatening, aggressive and sometimes criminal behavior by individuals and groups on the back steps of City Hall,” Chief Administrative Officer Bob Rusten wrote in a March 28 letter to the City Council.
Mayor Miro Weinberger has authorized the installation of seven cameras, probably three inside and four outside that would hold about two or three weeks of recordings.
The camera system is estimated to cost about $6,000 and will be installed soon, Rusten’s memo said.
No one is expected to monitor the cameras, but police would likely have access to the recordings if needed, Rusten said.
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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
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