Police seek cameras for Springfield footbridge

The Fellows footbridge, which links the Springfield Shopping Plaza to Pearl Street and points downtown, is a crime hot spot that would benefit from surveillance cameras, Springfield Police Detective Patrick Call said Wednesday.
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Police seek cameras for Springfield footbridge By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | March 20,2015 Email Article Print Article Photo by Len Emery Police are seeking to install cameras to monitor the Fellows footbridge, which links the Springfield Shopping Plaza to Pearl Street and downtown. SPRINGFIELD — The Fellows footbridge, which links the Springfield Shopping Plaza to Pearl Street and points downtown, is a crime hot spot that would benefit from surveillance cameras, Springfield Police Detective Patrick Call said Wednesday. Call, speaking at a meeting of a Project ACTION subcommittee dealing with crime in Springfield, said the footbridge has been the scene of many types of crimes — and served as an escape route as well. “It’s a massive, massive problem,” the detective said. Call said the footbridge, which is owned by the town, was the escape route in two recent robberies in the plaza, including the Citizens Bank robbery last month. Criminals typically park getaway cars on Pearl Street, across the bridge, and thus avoid police heading to the plaza.”They seek immediate flight,” Call said. The most valuable information immediately after a robbery is identifying the vehicle and the direction of travel. The footbridge thwarts those goals, he said. Call said drug needles have been found around the bridge, and the site has also been used for drug dealing. “It’s a constant problem,” he said. A man died on the bridge earlier this winter, but it was determined to be from natural causes. Springfield voters earlier this month approved the purchase and installation of three surveillance cameras for the downtown area. But Police Chief Douglas Johnston, who was also at the meeting Wednesday, said the footbridge doesn’t fall under the downtown designation. Johnston said he was working on where to place the three cameras downtown. Project ACTION Chairwoman Stephanie Thompson, who is also a member of the Select Board, said fundraising or a grant might be the answer for the footbridge cameras. Johnston said he is already in talks with Vermont Telephone Co., or Vtel, about the wireless technology needed to hook up the downtown cameras with the police department, so they can be monitored in real time. Call said businesses in town have a wide variety of surveillance cameras, and he said some of the most effective images come when the camera is at face level. He said the police department has met with every bank president in Springfield to discuss what he called the “threat assessment.” Johnston said the department has met with the Young family, which owns the plaza, and so far they are not interested in installing surveillance cameras. Kristi Morris, chairman of the Select Board, said the town now owned the Fellows footbridge, although it was originally built by the Fellows Gear Shaper Co. to improve access to its complex on Pearl and River streets.