Photo by xaosDC

Metro is planning on tripling the amount of surveillance cameras it has throughout the system, reports the Examiner, and will add four cameras per new rail car starting next year:

The agency plans to increase the number of cameras it uses to watch for crime and security threats from 1,900 to nearly 6,000, it said in documents provided to the D.C. Council. That will cost $6.5 million, an agency spokesman said. Metro previously announced plans to spend $7.1 million to install cameras in six rail cars by the end of 2013, as well as build a network to allow officials and police to watch those cameras in real time.

“As the second-busiest subway system in the U.S., serving the nation’s capital, there should be no question about Metro’s potential to be a target. We have no greater responsibility than protecting the safety of our customers, visitors and employees,” Metro spokesman Philip Stewart said in an email. “To that end, we are in the process of deploying a comprehensive next-generation security system for Metro.”

Metro started installing cameras on buses and in stations in 2009, using federal grants to pay for them. Recently D.C. announced that it would install 30 surveillance cameras on bus shelters along H Street and Benning Road NE.