It’s been two years, and the city of Key West is still struggling to get sidewalk cameras installed and operational along Duval Street.
Recent local debates about mask compliance, social distancing and anticipated New Year crowds — coupled with national events at the U.S. Capitol — have highlighted the usefulness of such cameras to monitor crowds, identify suspects, prevent and solve crimes.
“We didn’t use any surveillance cameras on Duval Street over New Year’s Eve for the curfew because they’re not operational yet,” Assistant City Manager Patti McLauchlin told Keys Weekly on Jan. 11. “We’ve had some hurdles and in all honesty, we were about to fire the contractor, but I’m told things are now progressing.”
The Duval Street cameras are probably 60 days from completion, Doug Bradshaw, the city’s director of ports and marina services, said on Jan. 11, 2021.
Bradshaw added that there are now cameras in use at Mallory Square and the Outer Mole cruise ship pier, but they’re currently “on a temporary workstation to be sure they’re working properly.” The port areas were the top priority for cameras because the U.S. Coast Guard has cited the city multiple times for not having “active monitoring” capabilities as part of its port security plan.
When discussions of the port camera requirements started two years ago, officials also decided to include cameras along Duval Street at the intersections of Greene, Caroline, Eaton and Petronia streets.
City and police officials aren’t interested in invading anyone’s privacy, but in preventing and solving crimes and protecting the public, McLauchlin told Keys Weekly in October 2019, when she expected the cameras to be operational in time for Fantasy Fest, New Year’s Eve and other events of 2020.
The camera system will allow designated city users to monitor people and activities at each location in real time, using either a laptop or a mobile phone. The footage can also be stored, archived and reviewed later to help with criminal investigations as well as traffic monitoring during special events.
The city solicited bids in 2018, seeking a contractor to install and maintain the camera system. Officials twice dismissed all responses, saying they did not meet the requirements. The city then hired a consultant to help rewrite the bid specifications.
The Fort Myers-based Integrated Fire Safety & Security Systems was ultimately chosen as the contractor. The city approved a $398,000 contract with IFSS, surprising and frustrating Jordan Smith, who has owned and operated the Key West-based Broadwave internet solutions provider for nearly a decade.
Smith and Broadwave submitted a bid for the camera project.
“Our bid was within a few hundred dollars of the other national companies,” Smith said on Wednesday, Jan. 13. “The bid from IFSS was $200,000 lower than all the others. Wouldn’t that make you think that perhaps they’re missing something? And now, here we are, two years later, with no Duval Street cameras. They have one person working in Key West. We’re based here. We have a dozen people working here.
“What’s more, when IFSS started working on cameras at the port, they had the audacity to use our cables, our power and to mount their equipment on our infrastructure at a location that we lease from one of our commercial clients,” Smith said, urging the city to completely rewrite and reissue the bid. “We could have that system up and running 90 days from when we signed the contract. Something’s not right.”
Keys Weekly contacted IFSS president Justin Peterson for an update on the cameras and was told that any information about the project must come from the city.
