DAYTON -- We've seen crime rates go down recently in the city of Dayton, but city commissioners are considering a new crime fighting system that could keep you safer.
It's called airborne surveillance and its a contract Persistent Surveillance System presented to Dayton Commissioners that will give police a wider view of the city to fight crime. Police say this new system will give them a head start to find a suspect of a crime.
The company, Persistent Surveillance System, is offering the city 120 hours of airborne surveillance. During a city meeting Wednesday, additional details were given to commissioners. Questions were asked and comments were made.
"Would it be better to have another cop and a half another police on the street than this," said one of the commissioners.
"No, this will allow us to use computer technology and mapping to both tag an individual and or a vehicle relate to that crime and rack them to and from that location," said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.
Last summer, the Dayton Police Department tested the system and Chief Biehl said it went well.
"And in one particular case it was multiple robberies committed in a short period of time and the individual was able to be tracked between all of those events and ultimately identify and arrested so obviously it works," said Chief Biehl.
The mobile system allows police to follow crime from a much wider view. Four police officers will be trained to be in the aircraft.
"I think it's great. We've had a lot of problems with people running read lights and almost running pedestrians over so. This will give surveillance should they hit one, they'll know who it was that did it and get an idea of who it was that did it," said Robet Greene, from Belmont.
The surveillance will cost $120,000 for the 120 hours and Chief Biehl says every penny will be money well spent.
"If someone was shot and actually injured and has to go to the hospital for treatment, those costs will range $25,000 to $50,000, if you prevent ten of this events you're looking at a quarter million to half a million of savings in medical costs," Cheif Biehl explained.
"They're spending for everything else, this is something that we really need so I'm all for it," said Teresa Earnest of Dayton.
Dayton Commissioners were suppose to vote on this next week, but that covet has been delayed because they want more feedback from the community. They are planning to host open forums for the public about it in the near future. ABC 22 will report this sessions when the details become available.
It's called airborne surveillance and its a contract Persistent Surveillance System presented to Dayton Commissioners that will give police a wider view of the city to fight crime. Police say this new system will give them a head start to find a suspect of a crime.
The company, Persistent Surveillance System, is offering the city 120 hours of airborne surveillance. During a city meeting Wednesday, additional details were given to commissioners. Questions were asked and comments were made.
"Would it be better to have another cop and a half another police on the street than this," said one of the commissioners.
"No, this will allow us to use computer technology and mapping to both tag an individual and or a vehicle relate to that crime and rack them to and from that location," said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.
Last summer, the Dayton Police Department tested the system and Chief Biehl said it went well.
"And in one particular case it was multiple robberies committed in a short period of time and the individual was able to be tracked between all of those events and ultimately identify and arrested so obviously it works," said Chief Biehl.
The mobile system allows police to follow crime from a much wider view. Four police officers will be trained to be in the aircraft.
"I think it's great. We've had a lot of problems with people running read lights and almost running pedestrians over so. This will give surveillance should they hit one, they'll know who it was that did it and get an idea of who it was that did it," said Robet Greene, from Belmont.
The surveillance will cost $120,000 for the 120 hours and Chief Biehl says every penny will be money well spent.
"If someone was shot and actually injured and has to go to the hospital for treatment, those costs will range $25,000 to $50,000, if you prevent ten of this events you're looking at a quarter million to half a million of savings in medical costs," Cheif Biehl explained.
"They're spending for everything else, this is something that we really need so I'm all for it," said Teresa Earnest of Dayton.
Dayton Commissioners were suppose to vote on this next week, but that covet has been delayed because they want more feedback from the community. They are planning to host open forums for the public about it in the near future. ABC 22 will report this sessions when the details become available.
