Leiby Kletzky Security Initiative Cameras Will Be Installed Soon

As part of the Leiby Kletzky Security Initiative, created by Assemblymember Dov Hikind and State Senator Dean Skelos following the 2011 kidnapping and murder of the 8-year-old Hasidic boy, 100 security cameras are coming to local streets in the next few months. Some New Yorkers are concerned about the private oversight of the publicly-funded system, and about the need for cameras in the first place.

The Associated Press, having reviewed documents pertaining to the cameras, says a $1 million tax-payer funded grant will go to an “LLC effectively controlled by” Agudath Israel, a Haredi Jewish umbrella organization. This will “pay for the 100 cameras to be installed and maintained by Secure Watch 24, a private security firm, which will keep the recorded data for up to five years.” They add that “access to and management of the cameras in Brooklyn was not entirely clear.”

Whether the areas where the cameras will be installed need cameras as compared to other precincts in Brooklyn is also in question. While it is of course not the only crime, if you look at homicides in the 66th Precinct (where the 2011 murder occurred) you’ll find that none occurred in 2012, and there has been one so far this year, according to the most recent CompStat report. The 70th Precinct, however, has had six murders this year and eight in 2012.

When first proposed, the Leiby Kletzky Security Initiative had borders of coverage for cameras that included parts of Kensington, Borough Park, Ditmas Park, and Midwood. You can see a map that shows those borders and the locations of events of the Kletzky crime here.

Photo by by Andy Novick