Washington approves new cameras in playgrounds
Washington City Council approved a contract with a local security services firm to place new CCTV cameras at three city playgrounds during a Thursday night meeting.
The contract with Finleyville-based Dave Davis Communications will cost $42,550 up-front for equipment and a monthly service fee of $1,134 for cellular modems located at the three playgrounds to allow camera connectivity and system integration.
City Administrator Rich Cleveland said that Washington Police Chief Steve Devenney spearheaded the effort to approve the contract in light of recent incidents at the playgrounds, including fighting and bullying.
Cleveland could not confirm the exact placement of the cameras nor when the system would become operational, saying that the cameras would be deployed in a “phased approach.”
This effort follows a similar vote in June, when council entered into a no-cost, one-year trial agreement with Flock Safety to test their license plate reader (LPR) cameras at four intersections across the city.
At the time, Mayor JoJo Burgess said the Flock LPR system would go online sometime in late August or early September, with plans to hold a public town hall on the system with a representative from the company.
The city is working with the police department to finalize a date for the town hall, Burgess confirmed on Sept. 1.
On Thursday, council also approved a contract with McDonald-based IT firm twopackIT LLC for IT and cybersecurity services with an $18,058.80, and a monthly recurring payment of $11,254.19, according to the meeting agenda.
This will cost the city over $153,000 for the first year of the contract term.
Cleveland said the city has been without a dedicated IT and cybersecurity partner since early 2026 after two buyouts of the previous company left city leadership dissatisfied with the service they were providing.
Staff from twopackIT have been at City Hall this week setting up the new cybersecurity system and integrating existing devices into their network, he said.