From the Chicago Dispatcher, October 2008
Commissioner's Corner
Taxicab security cameras: maximizing safety
By: Norma Reyes
Taxi driver safety is extremely important to DCS and the City of Chicago. Since I have been commissioner, improvements have been made to ensure the city's taxi industry is in line with national standards of safety.
First, DCS aims to ensure that the vehicles being leased by drivers are in safe working order. Our inspection standards are stringent because we understand that lives are at stake if a vehicle is not well maintained or running properly. Inspections are not only to protect passengers but to protect drivers.
Second, although I know that credit cards are not popular among some drivers, DCS requires drivers to accept credit card payments, thus reducing the amount of cash drivers have to carry. Historically, drivers have been targets of crime because taxi service was a cash-bound business, and criminals took advantage of that. By requiring the acceptance of credit card payment, we are reducing driver vulnerability.
Finally, DCS requires safety equipment within the cab to prevent crime against drivers. Beginning in 2007, DCS offered taxicab medallion holders a new safety equipment option: security cameras. Previously, all cabs, with the exception of owner-operated vehicles, were required to have a safety shield installed. Now, an owner may install a camera, a safety shield, or a combination of the two.
In the last year, nearly 350 cabs have had security cameras installed, and we predict by the end of 2008, that number will have climbed to 500. Cameras not only prevent crime, but unlike the shield, they are a tool to solve crime if it happens. But there are important details that both owners and drivers must be aware of in order to maximize the full safety potential that cameras offer.
The Rules and Regulations for Taxicab Medallion Holders specifically require that for any vehicle with a security camera, decals must be posted on the passenger side and driver side rear windows stating “This vehicle is equipped with a security camera.”
Tampering with the camera or its equipment will compromise the camera's effectiveness and is in violation of the Rules and Regulations. During the vehicle's regularly scheduled inspections, camera equipment will be checked, as will the functions that trigger it. The camera is programmed to record pictures when the following specific triggers occur:
– The ignition is turned on
– A door is opened
– The meter is activated or deactivated
– The Emergency button is pushed
Since the camera is regularly taking pictures it can capture and store images that occur before the triggering event, such as when a door is opened or when the Emergency button is pushed. These pre-event images can be very valuable in crime solving.
Both the owner and the driver of a cab equipped with a camera system should familiarize themselves with the equipment. To confirm that the system is functioning properly:
– Make sure that the status light is blinking green after entering the cab. If there is no light or the light is red, then there is a problem with the camera and service is required.
– Be aware of the exact location of the Emergency button. Generally, it is below the driver's seat.
IF A CRIME OCCURS, IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL THAT THE POLICE BE NOTIFIED. AFTER NOTIFYING THE POLICE, DCS MUST BE ABLE TO VIEW AND COPY THE IMAGES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. When the Emergency button is pushed, images are recorded at a rate of at least one image per second. The system stores 2.5 minutes worth of images prior to the trigger and 2.5 minutes after the trigger in an overwrite-protected format. They are in a locked and protected area of memory. These images will be invaluable for crime-solving. It is crucial that the following steps be taken after a crime:
– Immediately call the police or go to a police station to file a report.
– Promptly after contacting the police, call the Public Vehicle Office at 312-746-4300 to schedule a department investigator to view and copy the images. Be prepared with the following information: the police report number, the police district where it was reported, the time, date, and location of the incident.
– Within 48 hours, the images from the camera's memory must be downloaded by a department investigator.
The department investigator will work with the Police Department to provide any and all evidence gathered from the security camera. This sort of information will be invaluable in apprehending and prosecuting criminals.
In closing, it is up to owners and drivers to make sure security cameras are fully effective. You must know the requirements as stipulated in Rule 2.14 of the Taxicab Medallion Holders Rules and Regulations, and you must know the layout and functioning of the camera system itself. The Department of Consumer Services wants cab drivers to be safe, and security cameras are a smart and cutting edge step in that direction.
george, why you just spread the lies of Reyes?
the fact is she doesn't want to understand why this credit card is not popular among drivers. there is a reason for it and that is said in all the discussion posts on this forum.
we know what it is to be a cab drivers and our own safety and bussiness. What she is doing is dictating us to do things that is not helpful and very unfair for drivers. this credit card law should end for all the reasons drivers have stated.
she must understand that many complains against drivers are from those hatred racist people and they are false complaints.
I agree with you. Why did you let Reyes post that crap on here? She don't know what she is doing. She just got that job. Because, Daley is an moron. We can take care of are selfs at work. The credit card law must die soon. I hope all us cabbies can get togethere and go on strike for a couple of days.
I agree with on that. That is Daley for you. No heart, soul, and doesn't care about us Chicago Cabdrivers problems. Or, are ideas to make the cab business better. We have to take there gay rules. We are self-employed and work for are selfs. We should be able to do what want to do on are job. Not them gay rules they give us.
Reyes should be banned from this message board. She is a dictator who hates cab drivers and wants video of them getting killed to watch with her friends who promote her policies.
I wish we got an new mayor. Who can run this city the right away. Then, make us cabdrivers a union and no more DCS. Would be great?
