116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa City preparing to begin installing Pedestrian Mall cameras this month
City says it will help officers access video when investigating incidents
IOWA CITY — The city of Iowa City is getting ready this month to install 13 cameras throughout the downtown Pedestrian Mall, which the city says will help law enforcement by giving them access to video while investigating incidents in the area.
Background
City staff told The Gazette in March the new cameras will capture more than is currently available and will be the first city-owned cameras in the Ped Mall.
Most of the time, the video footage will be accessed after an incident occurs, public safety information officer Lee Hermiston said. The cameras will not be used to actively monitor Ped Mall visitors and shoppers, he said.
When a crime occurs on the Ped Mall, Hermiston said, the Iowa City Police Department has had to rely on private entities to provide investigators with their own surveillance camera footage.
“These cameras will provide us with our own footage to help make arrests and get convictions, as juries are increasingly expecting concrete, impartial evidence rather than just witness accounts,” Hermiston said.
The estimated project cost is $95,000. The infrastructure for the cameras was installed a few years ago as part of the 2018-19 Ped Mall Improvements project.
What’s happened since?
The installation of the camera system will start within the next couple of weeks, Assistant City Engineer Scott Sovers said. The project will wrap up by early October.
The corner mounted cameras will be installed on light poles, the Iowa City Public Library building and the walkway on the west side of the Graduate Hotel, Sovers said. The project still is estimated at $95,000.
The contractor is Davenport-based Tri-City Electric Co.
Hermiston said the cameras are a “welcome addition to our public safety toolbox.”
“In addition to aiding in investigations and obtaining convictions in criminal cases, these cameras will be vital in helping us track down children who have wandered off from their parents or other missing persons,” Hermiston said.
Hermiston reiterated that the cameras won’t be used to actively monitor people in the Ped Mall, unless there is a critical public safety incident.
Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com
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