VICKSBURG, Miss. (WJTV) – Vicksburg city leaders traveled to New Orleans to adopt and study new high-tech cameras at the University of New Orleans.
“What we have to do Monday, we’re going to adopt a resolution that sets forth the streets that we have identified that are high crime areas or areas that we need to monitor the license plate, the vehicle, any type of traffic. Then we’re going to go and access how much it costs to have these cameras put up in these locations. Once we determine that, we have every intention of going forward with it,” explained Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr.
The city has partnered with a non-profit organization project “‘NOLA,” which will monitor the cameras 24/7. The cameras will be able to detect license plates, detect gunshots of up to 100 feet, acquire facial recognition and have close zoom features.
According to city leaders, a camera room is also on the way to the Vicksburg Police Department (VPD), which will also be watched Thursday through Sunday, 24 hours a day. They said these days are the highest when it comes to spikes in crime for the city.
“It’s an opportunity we believe is good for a city our size, a population our size, and where we are trying to be on the front edge of crime and not in the backside of it. We’re trying to be more preventative and make our neighborhoods and make our streets safer,” said Flaggs.
The program allows the costs of the cameras to be covered by a grant, and after five years, they will be donated to the city.
Flaggs hopes to install between 30 and 75 cameras in August. Nearly a dozen cities throughout the state are already participating in the program.