Law firm requests information about Cape's traffic cameras

A local law firm, Glaus & Gohn, has filed a Sunshine Law request with the city of Cape Girardeau to obtain information about traffic cameras after the Southeast Missourian recently published an article about them.

One of Glaus & Gohn’s practice areas is traffic law and automobile collisions, according to its website.

The document submitted to the city requests: details on which cameras are attached to a fiber-optic network; the method of storing data; a copy of the agreement between the city and Southeast Missouri State University detailing any collaboration of storing or using cameras; and a list of persons having access to the data generated by each camera.

Members of the firm declined to comment until the city fulfills the request.

City network engineer Jason Selzer said footage from the nine cameras is available upon request. All sworn police officers have access to the cameras and regularly save footage from the cameras in the event of an automobile accident.

Selzer said the cameras are not used to determine traffic infractions.

“If there’s an accident at an intersection and you go back and look at the video, you could determine who’s at fault,” Selzer said.

Selzer said this works well for incidents where one driver runs a red light. The color and shape of the vehicle in question will be visible, but it is nearly impossible to read license plates numbers using the footage.

Even tracking suspects vehicles from known crimes, which is another use for the cameras, is difficult if the vehicle is common.

Faces from behind a windshield are obscured. Selzer said he recently conducted a test in which he waved at a camera as he passed. When he reviewed the footage, he could see movement but he could not make out his own hand.

“I don’t want people to think police are monitoring them at intersections,” Selzer said.

The city also is limited to placing cameras where there is fiber-optic cable in obtaining usable video. There are 22 traffic cameras in the city, but only nine have savable video. The other cameras require a technician to watch a live feed at the site of the camera.

The nine cameras connected to fiber-optic cable are at the intersections of:

• Broadway and Sprigg Street
• Broadway and Pacific Street
• Broadway and Henderson Avenue
• Broadway and West End Boulevard
• Independence and Sprigg streets
• Independence Street and West End Boulevard
• Independence Street and Caruthers Avenue
• Main and Spanish streets and
• William Street and West End Boulevard

Video is motion-activated and stored for 30 days at a server in city hall, unless there is a request for a video to be saved. With such a request, video is sent to the digital-evidence file at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Selzer said.

City officials with access to the cameras include: traffic operations manager, special projects coordinator, street superintendent, storm/sewer maintenance supervisor, IT manager, IT network engineer, safe communities coordinator, property/evidence technician, all sworn police officers and all communications (911) staff.

The city has a memorandum of agreement with Southeast Missouri State University to install and link fiber-optic cable, some of which has been installed by both parties.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

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Below is video footage from traffic cameras at the intersection of Broadway and Pacific Street in Cape Girardeau. The top two views show Broadway east and west. The bottom two views show Pacific Street south and north.

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