Follow Up on the Video Cameras in the City County Building

So, I got a few answers from county staff. I’m not happy with the answers, but grateful for the quick response.

So, here’s the questions I asked:

1. Can you provide me with any policies related to how the surveillance cameras/footage of the cameras in the CCB are going to be used.
2. When did they go up?
3. What did they cost, including installation?
4. Who paid for them? Out of which budget line?

Here’s the staff response:

The cameras immediately inside each of the entrances are the responsibility of Facilities Management. They are intended to prevent and document any cases of vandalism or damage to the doors and entrances which were replaced this earlier year. As you may remember, window panes were recently shattered at the MLK entrance. Vendors also use the Wilson St. entrance to make deliveries and occasionally damage the doors. Having a camera there to document the damage may facilitate recouping the cost of any repair that may be required. The footage is only reviewed when damage occurs.

The cameras at the entrances went up at the end of August. The total cost was $1,585 which was paid for out of the Facilities Management operating budget.

If you have any other questions, please contact me.

So I asked a few more questions:

Thanks for the prompt answers!!!

So, who is going to comply with this requirement?
http://legistar.cityofmadison.com/detailreport/?key=11575

The clerk said she had no policies in her folder about the cameras.  (And there has been one in the elevator and perhaps other places for quite some time)

And this doesn’t really explain the one by the MPD or Carroll St.

Is Facilities Management County?  Which staff person is this?  The website is REALLY vague . . . .

Why didn’t this go through City-County Liaison, I thought they set the policies for the building.
The City-County Liaison Committee is designated by the County Board and Common Council asmanaging authority for the City-County Building.

So, I looked into the resolution the city council passed and then realized a fatal flaw . . . it only requires “city agencies” to file information about the security cameras, and this is the county. So, even tho it is in a city facility, I don’t think they have to file their policies. Tho, hopefully the City-County Liaison Committee will take it up.

The Mayor’s office also got copied in by the county and they are looking into this and the signs across the street, which by the way, are still up.

I don’t know, its not that I don’t believe the county staff that responded, but I don’t believe the cameras are there cuz of the damage, I think they are there to ward off the homeless. The timing is just too coincidental. It’s like the city and county have declare war on the homeless and this is just another battle.