MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — More than 30 mobile security trailers have been placed at high traffic intersections around Waco. McLennan County Emergency Operations is the command center for the safety project.
- With a live feed, the emergency operations team will be monitoring for traffic congestion and accidents.
- The cameras cost is apart of the city's budget, coming in at around $38,000 dollars.
- Emergency Management is taking citizens privacy seriously, the cameras will not be recording, they are only providing a live feed.
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BROADCAST SCRIPT:
“Each camera trailer consists of four cameras," Ryan Dirker with McLennan County Emergency Operations said.
More than 30 mobile security trailers have been placed at high traffic intersections around Waco.
“Those cameras are feeding into our emergency operations center, and having that kind of eyes on the ground, to see exactly what the traffic impacts are going to be is going to be enormously helpful for us,” Dirker said.
How exactly do the cameras work?
With a live feed, the emergency operations team will be monitoring for traffic congestion and accidents.
If they do encounter an emergency — after they confirm that everyone is okay — they can let the necessary crews know that first responders on their way.
“From a traffic standpoint, we can’t start to look at the other available intersections around that area and start to plan where to push that traffic away from that problem," Dirker said.
"Once the problem is clear, hopefully we can then resume normal flow onto that intersection."
Dirker says the cameras cost around $38,000 — this isn’t the first time they’ve used them, but this is the first time they’re being used at this capacity.
We’re literally watching the sky — it’s going to be a much larger area," Dirker said.
"It became necessary for us to look at a larger swath of a larger area, rather than all throughout the community."
Dirker wants people to know that they’re taking your privacy seriously — these cameras aren’t meant for anything other than watching the traffic flows.
“None of these cameras are recording, none of them are reading license plates," he said.
"These cameras are a one-way feed from the cameras back to the EOC — and once the information once the image is posted, it’s gone."
