Officially Procured from Sarah Killian WVTM 13
FAIRFIELD, Ala. —Lynneice Washington, Jefferson County District Attorney for the Bessemer Division, is helping to fight crime in underserved areas in her district.
Washington’s office recently received a Project Safe Neighborhoods grant through the Department of Justice to purchase real-time surveillance cameras. These cameras are a partnership with Project NOLA, a group based in New Orleans that monitors a network of cameras live and notifies local police as crimes are happening.
The cameras will be going up in four cities within the Bessemer cutoff division: Brighton, Lipscomb, Midfield and Fairfield. Washington said these cities were chosen because of their low policing presence.
“You have people who are afraid to leave their homes. You have crimes that are unsolved and it’s not good for the economy, it’s not good for the reputations of the communities and it’s not good for the residents that live there,” Washington said.
Some of the cameras will be installed at Miles College in Fairfield. They’ll help monitor activity on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Kenneth Coachman, Chief of Staff for Miles College, said administrators are grateful to be included in Washington’s grant.
“Safety is our concern, as well as the parents, and we know that these will help to put the parents at ease as well as the administrators of the college,” Coachman said.
Washington said this grant is just a start. She hopes to be able to get more cameras in the future.