Subway cameras stopped working 4 days before Sunset Park shooting, MTA Inspector General's report says
NEW YORK -- Eight months after a gunman opened fire inside a subway car in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, we're getting more details about the failure of security cameras that day.
A new report found some cameras in the station went out days before the shooting.
Five thousand subway camera are livestreamed at the MTA's security command center in Brooklyn.
"We don't have 5,000 people watching. So that's why we choose the high-profile stations, but can react if we hear something," said NYC Transit Pres. Rich Davey.
There are about 11,000 subway cameras systemwide.
"The other half of our cameras are locally recorded. So that requires us to go and actually pull video from," said Davey. "Where in this world are there more cameras than a Vegas casino? The New York subway system."
Back in April, 10 people were shot in the subway after suspect Frank James allegedly opened fire in the area of the 36th Street subway station in Sunset Park. Cameras there and at the nearby 25th and 45th street stations were out.
The Office of the MTA Inspector General released a report noting they went down four days before the shooting, "at 5:21 p.m. on Friday, April 8," and went unnoticed for 24 hours.
The report did not find the exact reason for the network failure, but found shortfalls that delayed discovery and repair including, "staffing, maintenance, and internal controls - along with a breakdown of communication."
"I think it was a weekend issue," said Davey when asked about the 24-hour delay.
According to the report, the NYPD and other MTA camera provided useful footage that day.
Monday, testifying before the New York City Council, NYC Transit officials said there are redundancy plans to account for downed cameras.
"There's a check that's actually done everyday, Monday through Friday, on cameras. And what we found is that it's basically under one percent of the cameras may not be working at any given time," Robert Diehl, NYC Transit's senior VP for safety and security, told the council.
"We acknowledge that it's a difficult system to maintain the mechanical equipment. So being redundant is important, so if one camera is out another camera or set of cameras will be able to pick up imagery or footage," Davey said.
NYC Transit said it's already implemented a reporting protocol for maintenance issues, but also said it only has a finite amount of resources.
"What's clear from this report is that the extraordinary redundancy built into our network means that images are always available from multiple cameras following an incident. Investigators rapidly get what they need from NYC Transit camera network even when a minimal number of cameras is temporarily offline," MTA Spokesperson Sean Butler told CBS2 in a statement. "The Inspector General confirmed today what the NYPD has said for years: MTA cameras are a highly reliable source of quality images, deterring crimes and bringing criminals to justice."
Back in October, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the purchase of another 5,000 cameras for subway cars.