A quarter of Dallas' street-corner surveillance cameras have been out of service for more than two months, according to Dallas police sources.
Dallas police confirmed that 26 cameras were out of commission as of Friday. The department did not say how long the cameras had been out of service.
"Some of those are due to construction, and when one camera goes down, it can affect a network of five or more cameras," Sgt. Warren Mitchell said. "But rest assured, we try to get them up and running immediately."
The department said a contractor is immediately called when a camera malfunctions.
"There are other cameras that may require parts, but until those parts come in, it may require a little time," Mitchell said.
Dallas police requested that the locations of the broken cameras not be revealed.
The department has described its network cameras as a key piece of its crime-fighting arsenal. And business owners said they rely on the cameras to deter crime.
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"It is a major concern when some of them go down," said John Crawford, CEO Downtown Dallas, a business development group.
He said police notify the group when cameras are out so it can move more private safety patrols into the area.
Two days after after being asked about the cameras, Dallas police said most of the cameras will be fixed by the end of the week.
Crawford said the repairs can't come soon enough.
"The cameras play an integral role in the reduced crime statistics that we are able to quote these days," he said.
