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Board approves five‑year $13M CityWatch CCTV maintenance, expansion and replacement contract
Summary
The Board of Estimates approved a five‑year contract for maintenance, support and limited expansion of the CityWatch CCTV network; presenters said the contract focuses mainly on maintaining about 867 cameras and includes planned replacement cycles and some Housing Authority expansion.
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates on Oct. 1 approved a five‑year maintenance, support and expansion agreement for the CityWatch CCTV network, awarding the work to the recommended vendor and authorizing the contract as presented.
Layla Layman, interim chief operating officer for the city IT office, described the contract as a five‑year agreement valued in the materials at about $13 million and said it would cover four main areas: maintenance and support of the existing network of roughly 867 cameras, limited expansion (including planned work for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City), camera replacement on a five‑year refresh cycle and infrastructure replacement.
Layman said about 75% of the contract value is earmarked for maintenance and support of the existing cameras. She outlined planned or funded expansion items, including 11 cameras for Brooklyn Homes funded through the Housing Authority and three cameras funded by Recreation and Parks for new rec centers; she said there are currently no funded CityWatch expansion projects outside of those items.
City officials said recent investments put cameras on a replacement cycle and markedly improved availability. "When we looked at the data recently, the availability was in the low eighties and now the availability of those cameras is in like 98%," Layman said, crediting a multi‑year refresh that addressed aging equipment.
The panel discussed how requests for new cameras are evaluated: considerations include crime data, proximity to fiber infrastructure (wired cameras are preferred for reliability), and tree canopy or other line‑of‑sight issues. On cost differences, an official from the city's public safety technology team, Art Ray, said wired camera installs "range us from usually $35,000 to $75,000 a camera," while wireless installations can be "around half" the cost but have lower uptime and more interference risk.
Layman said the contract contains Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) participation goals of 10% each. The board approved the agreement by voice vote.
Why it matters: the contract covers maintenance for the bulk of Baltimore's fixed public video surveillance network, funds a replacement schedule intended to maintain high system availability, and allows limited expansion tied to agency funding decisions. Officials emphasized funding constraints for expansion and that camera siting decisions must balance technical feasibility, crime data and privacy/public safety strategy considerations.
