11-Apr-18 – Owners of outdoor security cameras that face public property in Chicago are being recruited to share their video with the city’s video surveillance network.

A private sector camera initiative seeks to add video from thousands of privately-owned cameras to feeds from the city’s network of 2,700 cameras, now managed by the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

The city says only “highly-trained crime surveillance specialists” would view video from privately-owned cameras, only during “emergency situations,” and after “appropriate notification.”

To qualify, a camera must connect to the internet and have a public IP address. The minimum uplink speed is 128 megabits per second. A representative of OEMC will visit a site to determine if equipment is compatible.

Motorola Solutions has a $30 million contract with the city to oversee and integrate Chicago’s public safety surveillance cameras, which has taken 12 years and $140 million to build. Most of that money came from United States Department of Homeland Security.

Last November, the city announced that OEMC will manage the Motorola Solutions contract, taking over for the Public Building Commission, which oversees construction of public buildings.

In his weekly newsletter to constituents, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly encouraged condominium associations, rental properties, and local businesses to participate in the program, which he says, “will help the Chicago Police Department to make arrests in real-time and deter criminal activity.”

In 2016, Inspector General Joe Ferguson estimated that between the public and private sector, Chicago has 27,000 surveillance cameras.