The Board of Estimates met Monday night to vote on the 2013 Executive Budget which included an amendment for the addition of surveillance cameras downtown.

The board voted unanimously for the addition of approximately 32 surveillance cameras totaling $100,000 to be installed in various locations in the downtown area. Thirty-four cameras currently exist downtown.

Madison Police Department Captain Carl Gloede said the current cameras were installed in 2005-2006 as part of the Downtown Safety Initiative. Gloede said MPD uses the cameras to view traffic as well as monitor pedestrians.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, noted the cameras benefit the downtown area, citing its success in determining the suspects involved in the May 19 shooting on University Avenue outside Johnny O’s and Segredo, Verveer said.

“The surveillance cameras proved invaluable by showing indisputable evidence of the shooters with the guns in their hands,” he said.

Gloede acknowledged the cameras will never solve all the issues, but that their installation is a step in the right direction.

Gloede named West Washington Avenue, Regent Street and Langdon Street as a few examples where cameras will be placed.

Gloede also said the surveillance cameras run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Over 90 percent of the footage is never watched because there is not enough time, he added.

Gloede said when something happens and MPD is notified, they can then go back to the footage of that time. The footage will then be given to the forensic service unit where it is kept for the prescribed time of open records or used in a case, he added.

Some of the board members were concerned about privacy, but Gloede said the areas where surveillance will be used are different from residential areas.

“State Street is vastly different from other neighborhoods,” Gloede said. “MPD strives for a sense of community in the area, but with the extra layer of thousands of people, we have no way to have a personal touch of community policing.”

Gloede said in terms of privacy, there are certain locations where video can and cannot be used and rules on how video can be stored.

Verveer said the angles of the cameras cannot be trained into apartments or businesses and must be focused on public sidewalks and streets to protect privacy.

Certain video can be released to the public through an open records request, Gloede added.

Gloede said if a mugging is caught on camera, they can use the footage to catch the suspect. However, if a car is seen running a red light, MPD does not have the ability to send the driver a ticket.

Under Wisconsin law, the cameras cannot be used to cite individuals with simple traffic violations, Verveer said.

Rich Beadles of the Madison Information Technology Department said Madison Metro and Traffic Engineering are also putting up cameras.

“The cameras have a lot of different uses and ours are for downtown safety purposes,” he said.

Verveer said well over 100 total city cameras are in place, including many on city buildings and parking ramps.

Verveer called the cameras an “invaluable tool for cops.”