Some surveillance cameras not working

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Surveillance cameras put up around the city are used as a crime deterrent and monitor traffic flow. But 24-Hour News 8 learned some of them are not working.

The Indianapolis Division of Homeland Security is responsible for monitoring these cameras. 24-Hour News 8 learned the reason many of them are simply out is because of age and elements.

A double shooting Tuesday night on the city's east side left two people dead.

Nobody saw anything.

Police were hoping a camera might have caught something.

"They are eyes out there that allow us to see things that we wouldn't have a police officer in the area or a firefighter. Someone that can be in that area, that can advise us of what's going on," said Chief Gary Coons with the Indianapolis Division of Homeland Security.

24-Hour News 8 learned it wasn't working.

"They are wireless devices that are hardwired into certain aspects of the city. You know, they break," Coons said.

Coons said the city is responsible for over 100 cameras. 15 of them are not working right now.

Because of safety and security reasons, Coons couldn't say where these 15 cameras around the city are located.

"Some are four or five years old. Some are newer. They do break. They are exposed to the elements outside, as we've seen, the freezing weather, the rain, the snow. They are exposed to all of that," he said.

Coons said outside contractors are responsible for taking care of the cameras. They are usually up and running in 24 hours.

"It's like any other mechanical device. It can go in and out and we try to fix them as quick as we can," Coons said.

The incentive to get them fixed: solve, or prevent crimes like this one Tuesday night.

This isn't the first time police turned to a camera only to find it broken.

24-Hour News 8 knows one near the Monon Trail didn't catch an attack last October.