The $1 million system, paid for by the county, uses 104 cameras mounted on 24 poles along the trail stretching from Fallston to Bel Air. Each pole has four cameras pointing in different directions allowing for an almost 360-degree live view of the trail. Footage is archived for up to 30 days.
"The point of this is to resolve crimes and the other is to prevent crimes," Cassilly said during the presentation. "Our goal is to be able to provide first responders with direct access to the cameras so if there was an incident on the trail, they could look at their cellphone."
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler did not attend the presentation at the county administration building. Cassilly said Gahler — who raised concerns over functionality and police access to the cameras a few months ago — was not invited because he is not one of Cassilly's employees.
"I was not made aware of any concerns of police accessibility of this or camera quality that the sheriff might have had until I got a letter the same day as the press release," Cassilly said. "If anyone has any doubts, they can't access it, the county executive is telling you to go to the 911 center."
Gahler said in a statement to The Aegis that the cameras are a "haphazard decision" that put public safety in jeopardy because of an "ineffective and chaotic approach" to implementing the system.
"The Harford County Sheriff's Office, which operates camera systems in other areas of the county, was never included in the research, planning, procurement, placement, policy drafting or operations of the system," Gahler said. "To date, only one deputy has received very limited online training for these cameras."
The camera system went live in March — seven months after the killing of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, who went missing after going for a walk on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail on Aug. 5, 2023. Police found her exposed body the next day in a wooded area adjacent to the trail. Morin had been beaten to death and sexually assaulted, detectives wrote in charging documents for Victor Martinez-Hernandez, who has been charged in her death..
Acknowledging Morin's death, Cassilly stated that the trail is not the most dangerous area in the county but that the cameras will serve as a deterrent and a tool for future investigations.
The system uses AI to alert first responders to suspicious activity on the trail, such as when someone walks off the trail, is laying down on the trail or loitering. Each of the alerts can be set and customized by the county.
A live feed from the camera system during Wednesday's demonstration showed AI tracking and identifying objects such as vehicles and people and outlining them in blue boxes. Cassilly called the system the "most advanced in the state" and showed how it covers nearly every inch of the trail.
During the demonstration, AI provided numerous still images of people it captured on the trail during a set time frame. Officials then selected frames that fit the description of a person of interest, and AI created a comprehensive storyline of footage of the individual on the trail.
Cassilly explained that since the camera feeds will not be consistently monitored by a person, the AI alert and search capabilities are highly beneficial to avoid invasive public surveillance.
"This is part of our desire to not put our community under surveillance," Cassilly said. "Unless someone next to you is doing something odd on the trail, if you're walking or taking a jog, no one is watching you. No one is monitoring you."
Harford's director of Information and Technology, Nick Kuba, stated that the system will evolve as AI capabilities increase.
"This is a very sophisticated system, and this is just touching the tip of the iceberg with what we can do with the system," Kuba said. "We are looking forward to adding additional enhanced capabilities as they become available."
The cameras have already assisted local law enforcement in two investigations — one was for the theft of a trailer and the other was a missing person case. Footage from the cameras was turned over to police showing two men unhooking a stolen trailer from a truck. Investigators also viewed the cameras to search the trail for a missing woman who was later found elsewhere in the county.
As of now, Cassilly said first responders are able to view and access the footage and live feeds from the cameras at the 911 center.
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