The project entails LAN-TEL’s installation of surveillance cameras at 35 strategic sites throughout the city. Through the public safety initiative, the city of Lawrence joins a growing list of municipalities worldwide that are integrating state-of-the-art security technology and new surveillance methods to enhance their policing efforts.
On October 18, 2018, Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera and Police Chief Roy Vasque were in attendance for the first security camera installation by LAN-TEL, which is located on a traffic light pole at the intersection of Broadway and Haverhill Street, a noted crime hot spot. The city officials declared the public safety initiative to be a key to a new era of crime-fighting in Lawrence.
In the project’s first phase, 75 cameras are being installed and maintained by the NECA Boston contractor at various sites throughout the city. Approximately 35 additional cameras will be installed in a second phase. All camera box locations are publicly visible, with camera housing blue in color. “We often say if you see a blue box on a pole, it’s LAN-TEL security at work,” said Eric Johnson, Security Project Manager for LAN-TEL Communications.
Cameras are aligned and focused to cover the areas of interest, and the integrated wireless antennas transmit video signals back to Lawrence police headquarters. Some of the security cameras offer a fixed 180-degree view of a site, while others have pan, tilt and zoom features. The system is designed and modeled to work in a similar capacity to other successful video security installations LAN-TEL has preformed in other communities throughout New England.
“We have attended many community meetings in Lawrence, and are pleased to have been selected to provide state-of-the-art security for this great city,” said Joe Bodio, CEO of LAN-TEL Communications. “It is our goal at LAN-TEL to become your public safety partner, and this integration is the same as many other systems we manage and monitor within the Greater Boston area, including the Homeland Security and Coastal Camera system. Technology is an important tool in fighting crime, and we are thankful to be able to provide the most advanced security capabilities to many cities, including Lawrence.”
“There is a huge urgency and there is a huge problem when it comes to not just violence and crime, but drugs in our city,” Councilor Pavel Payano during the council discussion regarding the project six months ago. “We see these cameras as an opportunity to stem the tide.”
LAN-TEL Communications is a prominent low-voltage contractor for the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The company is the security system provider for the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region (MBHSR) and other Greater Boston-area municipalities, having provided hundreds of wireless video security system installations throughout the region and integrating them into respective area headquarters.
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