DuPage County’s Public Works Committee approved a contract with Hotline Business Systems LLC to replace and expand video surveillance at the judicial/court facility after committee members debated whether cameras primarily deter crime or simply record events.

The contract term is listed in the agenda as Nov. 25, 2025, through Nov. 24, 2026, with a total amount transcribed as $1,457,141.52. Committee discussion noted the matter had been discussed previously in executive session for security reasons; members were given limited public detail about those security deliberations.

During the public portion of the meeting, an elected member who spoke during the discussion argued against cameras as a primary security measure. “They’re not gonna protect people … somebody’s still gonna be raped or murdered or whatever, and the camera’s just gonna show us what happened,” the member said, questioning the deterrent value of surveillance alone.

Facilities staff responded that the new system offers capabilities beyond post-incident review. “These cameras have more capability than simply going back and figuring out what happened,” a facilities representative said, adding that a new network and updated hardware will be part of the installation.

Committee members also asked about signage and monitoring. A committee member asked whether the facility would be signed as monitored; staff said signage is customary and expected as part of the installation.

Committee discussion addressed funding. Facilities staff stated the purchase and installation would be paid from a contingency transfer into the infrastructure budget. A committee member reiterated that an ordinance authorizing the fee structure was previously adopted and that fees collected were scoped to recapture replacement costs for charging infrastructure (a separate agenda item), not to fund this contract directly.

The committee took a roll-call vote and approved the contract. The committee did not provide further public detail about the security measures discussed in executive session. Next steps will be vendor procurement and scheduling installations under the approved contract timeline.