Euclid City Council has accepted a $149,370 grant from a State Homeland Security Program to purchase and install new surveillance cameras in several areas of the administration city complex and outdoor public areas. The grant is match free, meaning that the city would not have to provide any additional funds to accept the funding. Euclid City Council previously approved 30 of these “community cameras” to be installed in public spaces. According to Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, during that process the administration decided that they wanted to add additional surveillance coverage. “Through that process we were also looking at areas where large crowds gather, or where there is a lot of public activity, primarily in protecting our buildings,” Holzheimer Gail said, during a Jan. 6 city council meeting. “… (the grant) is to protect against large crowds or terrorist activities. “Terrorist activities as we know today isn’t necessary, terrorist world, international activities, it can be something that happens in any community.” The funding will be used to install nine “Verkada Outdoor Multisensor Cameras and two stationary cameras” which would cover the basketball courts, pool, Ice Arena, Memorial Park and the Euclid Municipal Complex all of which are under a 10-year operating contract. According to a Department of Justice news release, the company Verkada Inc., has settled for $2.95 million an alleged violation for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act and “engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.” “In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the United States alleges that Verkada failed to implement reasonable security measures such as appropriate access management and data protection controls and adequate encryption of customer data,” stated the Sept. 4, 2024, news release. “These failures allegedly exposed sensitive information — including security-camera footage of consumers visiting locations like hospitals and schools — to unauthorized access. The complaint additionally alleges that Verkada misrepresented the extent to which it used appropriate data security safeguards and complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).” According to the DOJ, Verkada allegedly, sent out promotional emails without “…clearly and conspicuously notify(ing) recipients of their opportunity to opt out of such messages and failed to include a valid physical postal address, and that Verkada did not honor requests to opt out from its promotional emails within 10 business days of receiving those requests…” According to the DOJ, to resolve the lawsuit, “The stipulated order requires Verkada to pay a $2.95 million civil penalty and to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, including by honoring requests to opt out of its commercial emails,” stated the Sept. 4, 2024, press release. “The stipulated order also prohibits Verkada from misrepresenting its data security practices and requires it to establish a comprehensive information security program and undergo regular third-party assessments of its data security practices.” Currently, eight “community cameras” have been put on city-owned property while the rest will have to wait for a joint agreement with FirstEnergy so the contractor, Business Network Team can install them on light and energy poles, which should be within the first few months of the year. “The first round of Verkada cameras have been installed where we can install them on our own poles,” Holzheimer Gail said. “…we wanted to get the community ones up first, and then we will focus on these.” The administration added that the police department will keep track of when the cameras are used for an investigation, or other criminal activity, and will present the results to a safety committee meeting once a quarter. “The Police Department also have Verkada cameras on the exterior of their building, they have been very successful- they have great, very good resolution, so we are excited to add this to it,” Holzheimer Gail added.