BALTIMORE — Several hundred Ring doorbells are now up-and-running in East Baltimore's Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, the result of an initiative by neighborhood and state leaders.
The cameras were installed for more than 250 neighbors in the East Baltimore neighborhood.
"It'll be more security for the community," noted CHM resident Leonard Whichard to WMAR.
Whichard is the last neighbor to receive a camera in this wave of additions.
"When I go out, I can have the app on my phone and see what's going on," added Whichard at a media conference minutes later.
State funding through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Community Health and Safety Works program. According to a news release, it provides "grants to local governments and nonprofits to implement crime prevention strategies through physical improvements, operational activities, and community vigilance and maintenance."
"If anything else, it's definitely going to help with the crime in this community," Melvin Scott Jr., with local Mustang Electric, told WMAR.
Scott, who personally installed the cameras, told WMAR 70 percent of them are now beside the front doors of seniors.
The process to get the cameras up in the neighborhood took roughly a year.
"I know that we've already caught some people on camera that were doing things that were not supposed to be done at homes. So it's already seen fruit," said Maraizu Onyenaka, a CHM resident.
WMAR asked Sen. Cory McCray whether the effort was proactive, or whether something sparked the initial need for the cameras.
"I think when we think about public safety, especially in urban jurisdictions - we've seen it go in the right direction. But even with this current technology here, this is a deterrent. This is a deterrent for folks to do things they're not supposed to do," McCray answered.
Next, CHM neighborhood leaders are looking to install cameras in areas which experience illegal dumping.
