‘Dragon’ and ‘Nighthawk’ on the job helping to keep Collinsville safe
By Devese “Dee” Ursery
COLLINSVILLE — The Collinsville Police Department has an extra set of eyes on the roads to help with crime prevention in and around the City.
CPD has partnered with the Center for Crime Science and Violence Prevention through Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for grant funding to purchase solar mobile camera trailers and its various investigative programs.
“Dragon” and “Nighthawk” are names of the two solar mobile camera systems that were recently deployed at different locations in Collinsville. “Dragon” is currently stationed at Main Street and “Nighthawk” is currently placed at the Gateway Convention Center, according to Chief Steven Evans.
“Last fall, our Department was awarded a Bureau of Justice Assistance Violent Crime Reduction Program grant for almost $300,000,” Evans said. “This grant allows us to purchase equipment, hardware, software, and training items facilitating the prevention and investigation of crime.”
Evans said that although Collinsville has a relatively low violent crime rate, the grant application focused on the City’s proximity to St. Louis and crime prevention.
The purchase of these two solar surveillance camera trailers is one of several projects involving the CPD. The estimated total cost of the project is $93,760.
Officers had a little fun with the naming of the trailers by branding them with the nicknames of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly’s characters in the movie ‘Step Brothers.’
“The goal of this project is to be able to deploy these trailers to different locations as crime prevention or surveillance tools,” Evans said. “Parking lots are prone to car burglaries, so these types of trailers are used to serve as a deterrence and also to gather video evidence if a crime does occur.”
According to Evans, the surveillance trailers have the capability to be quickly deployed anywhere in the City as well as at festivals, to monitor crowd behavior.
“We selected the Gateway Center because they expected some large crowds for events, so we wanted to monitor the parking lot,” Evans said. “Main Street was selected to address some recent complaints of disorderly behavior in the area.”
Evans said that they are always looking for new ways to continue to ensure safety for our residents and visitors.
